RWBY: Hunters, Heroes & Humanity
by A.D. Aldous Dragon
Summary: An AU/OC fanfic. As Team RWBY and Team JNPR come to Beacon Academy,they find themselves forced to take sides, even against each other as the sudden, unexpected entry of a student who aims to become a very special type of Hunter utterly polarizes the Academy. How does one live beside another whose sole job is to kill one?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful content and characters derived directly from RoosterTeeth's RWBY. You would not believe me anyway if I say I did.**

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"_For it is in understanding that we challenge immortality, through this we become a weapon of all virtue and sin, to bring any down. Infinite in control and unbound by life, I release your soul and by mine, reveal thee the truth of the world."_

"So, now that I have awakened it, how do you feel?"

He blinked. One, two, three times his lids closed. It was a simple gesture that he would easily overlook before. But now, covered in this 'thing', he almost felt like he was lying within a new body, covered by a surprising, yet familiar glow.

No, that was not correct. This was his old body; it was just that he was only getting to truly know it now.

Within each clench of his fist he could feel it, the exertion of his muscles, and the pull on his bones, the air pockets that pop whenever he cracks his knuckles. He shifted his weight and immediately after, his trembling balance on the thin rope bridge was fully stable, not even the whisper of a shiver left behind despite the bridge's shaking. Whatever fear within him was almost quashed, as his fascination with this new experience overcame the dread of the cavernous ravine below him, its black maw eagerly waiting for victims throughout eternity. A few moments before, if he had lost his balance and fell in, he would most definitely die.

Now, he was not so sure.

"Hahaha, that look on your face reminds me of my own Aura activation. Fascinating, isn't it?" Oh right, that man was there too. Clothed in his favourite suit as always, that man was grinning at him, an unfamiliar gesture. He hurriedly backed away, the trembling balance suddenly returning through his body. To his surprise, the man's eyes, despite being covered in a deep shadow, glinted with pride.

"You've got a pretty good Aura, son." He felt his heart leap a little, as it already had several times today. Dad was simply overflowing with praise, perhaps unusually so, but he cared not for the reason why.

Why should he anyway? So long as he got it, reasons do not matter, he thought to himself as his feet shifted a little excitedly against the rope, lowering him lower into a stance. He wanted even more. His left arm, palm down, steadied itself beside his head. His right arm, its palm up, moved in front of him, the fingers on his right hand bending towards him, back and forth, a clear taunt.

"Oh, you want to try it out in combat? Hmm….It's still too early for you to do so, but I will satisfy your curiosity." Dad's grin now dropped to a flat-line, as he too fell into the same battle stance. The glint showing through the shadows over his father's eyes now dissipated, tempered into a cold darkness. He felt a little loss come up within him at that sight, but it did not bother him by too much. As if intrigued by this impending fight, the wind picked up, causing the rope bridge to sway even more, but the two people on it paid little attention to the disturbance, their eyes on one another, waiting for the first person to move. On the rope, they were both perfectly still, like statues in an eternal staring contest that might have, with patience, lasted for centuries.

But such patience he did not have. He could not wait anymore. "Get it now," he insisted to himself. Complying, his left foot pushed down the rope and he shot forward, the rush of the air around him drowned by his mental voice. With each metre closer, the voice in his head rose in intensity, from a whispering adviser to a cacophonous crowd in a sports stadium, cheering for their home team rushing in to face the challengers. Yet, behind all that noise, he could hear it clearly. Perhaps he could even say that it was amplified by the background sounds. Either way, he could not miss it.

A rushing vortex of wind, propelled by the strong incoming fist.

Smack.

"Hur!" He shot up, the covers that were over him now flung off high into the air, slowly floating to the ground. His left hand buried in the soft mattress of his bed, he felt himself shiver when he brought his right hand to his face, smoothing it over his forehead. The dampness against his fingers revealed the perspiration dribbling down from his forehead. A dream.

8 am. That was what the clock said. Yet it was still dark outside through the windows. Looks like a late sunrise today. What a pity, he is going to be late for work again.

Even so, he could use this chance to admire the night sky and the jewels within it. "Beautiful as it has been. I never get tired of seeing it." He felt himself giggle uncomfortably as he allowed himself to fall back into the womb of soft cushions.

Yet, even as he cleared his mind in an attempt to return to sleep, he did it in vain. Seconds past, as did minutes, but still he could hear them in the hallways of his mind. Mere echoes of its former sound in his dream, lingering there like the stars in the sky, obvious yet impossible to reach. Whenever he was alert, it would seem like they have finally passed, but in the moment he lulls back to sleepiness, they returned at full-force, a relentless, heartless army chasing down its prey. Sleeping was an impossible feat.

In the end, an hour had passed and the light finally rolled in from over the horizon, rays peering through the windows.

He picked himself up from the bed, a sad shadow of a smile plastered on his face. "After all these years….." He clenched his fist, but the infant-like sensitivity he had was already gone, replaced by decades of experience. The muscles moved with barely a discernable stretch. His bones no longer felt the pull of said muscles, having long learnt of how to move with them instead. How many times did he blink just now?

Ah, of course, he could not count what he could not feel.

Ring ring. Ring ring. He slowly raised his head, heavy with drowsiness, eyes bordered with hardened crust that he slowly peeled off. Ring, ring, goes the phone on the bedside cabinet, impatiently calling for him. His feet braced themselves as they landed on the floor, shivering at the daily reminder of how cold this place was. Ring, ring, it almost seemed to be shouting now. He could not wait anymore.

Where has he thought those same words?

That flicker of a wondering gone right after it appeared, he picked up the phone. "It's me."

A familiar voice, with a sudden message that prompted him to sigh, a thick cloud forming from his breath. "The Tyrant has set up the board."

"White moves first."

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**Hello to all readers, my name is A.D. Aldous Dragon and this is RWBY: HHH, Hunters, Heroes and Humanity. This is a pretty big project that I am undertaking in, an AU fanfic that will deviate heavily from the original plot, include a great deal of OCs in both the character and concept sense and makes a few heavy assumptions that I will be revealing in the next informative chapter. I will be following and interweaving my plot into the plot line of the entirety of Volume 1, but when Volume 2 and beyond comes out, there is likely to be some great deviations then.**

**Next chapter will be an information chapter about some of the concepts and assumptions I have made, especially with things like Beacon Academy, the relationship between Aura and Semblance and so on, so that I will not be pummelled by questions of why I chose this particular side of fan speculation and so on.**


	2. RWBY Database 1

_Welcome to the Beacon Academy database. I am your guide throughout your visit within this digital space, Computerized Automatic Search Engine or CASE, for short. I have been designed by Professor Vernier, award-winning Professor of World Technology, who has dedicated many strenuous years of brilliant service to this establishment. Beacon Academy is truly blessed to have such an awesome, incredible, inspiring and pioneering badass among them._

_Please note again: I have been designed by Professor Vernier._

_Please indicate the subject that you want to know._

**Subject: Beacon Academy**

_Searching. Found._

_Beacon Academy is the most prestigious Hunter institution located in the kingdom of Vale and acts as the final gateway for students to become a professional Hunter. Set up 500 years ago, it is well known for its very low acceptance rate, strict standards and medium mortality rate and has produced some of the most influential Hunters in the world, with, last recorded, thirty parliament members, sixty Bernhald Prize winners and six champions of the Remnant World Tournament._

_Today, Beacon Academy is currently located on the east edge of Vale and located over the basin of the national Vale River. Its architecture is designed by the world-famous architect Oum, who at the personal request of its headmaster Professor Ozpin, initially designed it on a napkin with ketchup smears. Beacon Academy is split into two sides, the front Junior side and the larger back Senior side. All first-years are assigned to the Junior side, while the other years above them mainly reside in the Senior side._

**Subject: Hunters**

_Searching. Found._

_Hunters are warriors who slay the creatures of the Grimm that permeate the lands of Remnant and whose duty is to uphold the peace of the world. Separate from the police and the military, the Hunters are handlers of supernatural and otherworldly issues, generally pertaining with the creatures of the Grimm and other monsters, but may also have to deal with mysterious Dust or assist in Aura anomalies. Hunters are also called upon in the event of a Crusade, together with the military._

_Hunters are separated into three types: Legal, Illegal and Black. Legal Hunters have undergone full academy training as dictated by law, have registered into an official Hunter organization and have shown definite evidence of still following their duty to uphold the world's peace. Illegal Hunters are any Hunters above twenty-five years of age who have not fulfilled these requirements. Black Hunters are Hunters who hunt down Illegal Hunters. Hunters who retired are still considered Hunters with the appropriate designation and will receive their appropriate salary for their life-long and dangerous service._

_Hunters fight through the use of Aura, Dust and weapons, all of which are covered in their academy training._

**Subject: Aura**

_Searching. Found._

_Aura is the manifestation of one's soul and anyone with a soul can thus have the potential to use Aura. Relatively few people, however, will ever have the strength and power to manifest Aura even if awakened and it is accepted to be impossible to be a Hunter without Aura. One's Aura can be awakened through years of meditation or times of incredible stress and resolution and through these, powerful Auras are usually manifested due to the high degree of realization of one's potential. Such people are generally considered geniuses in their field of work, for they are usually too old to undergo Academy training to be a hunter. However, the official, accepted method of awakening is by feeding another person's Aura into the target of awakening, easing them into their Aura, while requiring more time to full master their potential. All mid-level combat academies generally have Aura potential as an absolute must in their acceptance criteria and they all use the above process to reveal Aura to their students. It is forbidden to use the process without analysis of Aura potential to avoid soul fragmentation._

_Aura has numerous effects on the body once released. It forms a protective layer around the body that softens blows and blunts cutting attacks, using energy to prevent fatal damage. It is generally the monitoring of this protective layer that is used in tournaments to determine the stamina and combat readiness of the combatants. Aura has generally been shown to make one's body more youthful and energetic, resulting in the famed beauty of Hunters and Huntresses. However, there exist exceptions to this rule. Finally, the last benefit, or to some, curse that Aura gives is that the creatures of Grimm are much more attracted to those who can use Aura, allowing Hunters to divert the creatures away from innocent civilians. It has been shown that the stronger the Aura, the stronger the attraction._

_The unique effect Aura has on one and one's surroundings, known as Semblance, is a result of the advanced accumulation and subsequent application of the life energy one gives out and is dependent on several factors that researchers are still attempting to figure out to this day. A Semblance can be a Hunter's trump card or a foundation for their fighting style and due to their variety, several categories have been created to group up Semblances, but Semblances in the same group can still greatly differ. The magnitude and control of a Semblance can be tiny to enormous, for example, Telekinetic Auras have shown ones that can stop a person's heart to variants that can cause large-scale natural disasters such as quakes and storms. One's Semblance can, as one masters his potential or finds a new ultimate resolution, evolve beyond its original capabilities, but there is generally little deviation from the original category._

_The subject of how Aura works in Faunus has been a great source behind the Faunus-Human racial conflict. Aura has generally been observed to be weaker and smaller in Faunus as compared to Humans and an even smaller proportion of Faunus have shown Aura potential with the proportion of Humans. Fanatical factions have interpreted as meaning that the Faunus do not have complete souls or only have half of a soul and hence group the Faunus as being some monstrosity that were descendants from the creatures of the Grimm. Years of scientific research has proven that these accusations are definitely false and that the Faunus simply have smaller souls. However, such proof has been disregarded by the factions and their followers and this myth has continued to be told by faction leaders to the discriminatory crowds._

**Subject: Dust**

_Searching. Found._

_Dust is the globally accepted energy source in Remnant, being used in almost all energy-based machinery and tools, as well as being an essential weapon used by Hunters. It is found as a natural crystal within Remnant and comes in multiple colours that correspond to the type of energy that they carry. The main usable form of Dust is that of powder. Dust powder is highly reactive and can be easily ignited by external forces. They are thus generally used as gunpowder and are responsible for the revolution of guns throughout the world, resulting in the rise of the Schnee Dust Company which pioneered this form of Dust and are still producers of the highest quality of Dust powder. Even a sneeze from an Aura user provides enough force to cause an explosion with their Dust powder. _

_The second form of usable Dust is the refined version of Dust crystals. In exchange for greater longevity of usage and control, Dust crystals are generally used to generate less powerful effects in comparison to powder. However, if they are ignited and allowed to explode, Dust crystals are far more effective in explosive force and thus a variant of Dust crystals are used to create grenades. Dust crystals are, due to their concentration and refinement, more expensive than powder, but are generally cheaper in the long run due to being able to last much longer._

_The interaction between Aura and Dust is an odd one. Due to their emission of Aura energy, the basic movements of Aura users generally exert more ignition-inducing stress on Dust as compared to normal people. The sneeze from an Aura user is more likely to ignite Dust as compared to the sneeze from a normal person. However, certain Auras have a synergy with Dust and are thus able to control it through their thought alone. Such people are usually considered masters of Dust. _

_Other Aura users are, however, unable to handle Dust, as their Aura is especially prone to cause Dust around them to explode. These people are considered allergic to Dust. For such people, it is especially important that an academy be found to help them control their Aura, as the prevalence of Dust in Remnant's environment makes them a danger to both themselves and everyone around them._

**Subject: Remnant's Moon**

_Searching. Found._

_The Moon of Remnant is one of Remnant's Great Wonders ever since it was shown to have been broken ten years ago, in what was known as the Moon Break event. Scientists have hypothesized that the Moon had been broken by an asteroid a long time ago and that it had only been showing its whole face, with the breaking hidden behind the dark side, until ten years ago. As no known Remnant force or none of the nations have shown the capabilities and reason to break such a massive object, this hypothesis is the generally accepted view. Conspiracy theorists believe the Moon to be the source of the world's Dust, though no such space travel has yet to be achieved. Others believe that the Grimm did it or originated from it, but no evidence has been found yet._

_Currently, the Moon follows a monthly lunar cycle that results in it looking like it is fragmenting to pieces, even though this is just simply the turning of the moon that reveals the broken pieces. Some observatories have sometimes claimed that they have spotted the Moon being whole on a time when it should be broken, though attempts to repeat the sightings are usually unsuccessful._

_**There you have it. The first of the Information Pages. Some of it is mainly canon information but some of it are, as I have said before, the assumptions and concepts that I have made mainly with the world, along with a few little Easter eg**__**g**__**s.**_


	3. Prologue Act 1

**Prologue**

"Ruby Rose, are you even listening to me?! It's the end of school and seriously, I am perfectly fine with handling my own training, thank you very much!"

"But we haven't trained as a team yet and hence as team leader I have to make sure that we do so. Besides, I haven't been to the Academy's training gym and I just so want to see the weapons – uh I mean equipment that we will get! It will be so cool!"

On a perfectly good Friday, where the air is moist and cool while the sun begins to set away to mark the end of the afternoon, a certain energetic Little Red Riding Hood named Ruby Rose and a haughty Snow White named Weiss Schnee were dashing through the halls of Beacon Academy, the grandest academy in Vale located ever so nicely on the side of a cliff, overhanging its little port and the loud waves of water routinely smashing against the rocks below like an artisan chipping away at an emerging masterpiece. Of course, you can really only say 'dashing through the halls' if you consider 'dashing' to be a little red-cloaked girl rushing full steam ahead while the white-haired girl she is pulling along is trying, and failing, to pull back and stop her.

Perhaps if she managed to stop Ruby, Weiss might have time to admire the beautiful architecture of the Academy's inner halls, with its polished square pillars that, made from stone so old that each pillar has a fantastic history, hold up the ceiling, which too had fantastic murals painted over it, depicting many Hunters on their escapades to protect the people of Vytal and to defeat their arch-enemy, the creatures of Grimm. Those monstrosities were nothing more than black stains on the otherwise vibrant paintings that lined the walls.

Many historical tales, glorious, pitiful or depressing, abound from every single picture, such as how the dashing Lord of Mistral, Jenivios Goneril the First, faced twenty Grimm creatures of massive size in single combat, all at once, how the menacingly cruel Vortigern bathed in the blood of the creatures of Grimm in cold madness, before assailing his own comrades and the Kingdom of Vale, or how the wise and beautiful Ekaterina Pierce had suddenly went mad and attempted to make peace with the Grimm, only to be struck down by her fellow Hunters when she threatened the safety of the four kingdoms of Vytal. In such stories, one can see a lot of things, if one just knows to take a look.

But Ruby, oh ever the modern girl, cared nothing for such pasts. She had something much more violent in her eyes, and Weiss knew it. "Don't you dare try to hide it!" Weiss exclaimed at her partner, pausing between words to struggle the physically superior Ruby.. "You just…..want to see…..the weapons…..you idiotic weapon geek!" Of course to no avail for the heiress. It has been four days since their Initiation, so Weiss was not comfortable with being pulled around by Ruby, let alone stopping her.

"Oh pretty please!" Even as she seemed to be asking for permission, Ruby did not even slow down, her thigh-high boots barely touching the floor as the blur of a girl pulled along the struggling Weiss through the halls, pushed so fast by her barely held excitement at the possibility of seeing new weapons, her eyes already twinkling as if the Creator had picked off little stars from the night sky and with some celestial glue, pasted them over Ruby's irises. Her wide grin was probably not helping in hiding her emotions. "Besides Weiss, you can get to scout out the competition!"

"I don't 'Scout out the competition'! I simply 'Observe'." Weiss pouted in complaint as she now enthusiastically ran alongside Ruby. Clearly, Ruby's comment got the job done. Weiss had stopped pulling back, much to the gratitude of her right arm, which had been screaming under the tension between the two girls. "Okay, perhaps I do want to see other students inside the Academy. NOT that I'm not confident in myself, or anything. Just consider yourself lucky that I am in a good mood…." Weiss cringed under her flailing words, much to Ruby's amusement as she voluntarily slowed down so as to not leave Weiss behind.

"Anyway, Ruby, if you really wanted us to train as a team, why didn't you bring Blake and Yang along?"

"Well..." Ruby hesitated to say as she played with her fingers, sheepishly looking away from the now suspicious Weiss. "Yang was with her old school friends. She had such a huge crowd around her. It was like THIS big." Ruby stretched her arms wide and tried to draw a circle as she ran, though it only caused Weiss to raise her eyebrows at Ruby's attempt to gauge the size of a crowd with those small arms of hers. "So I...kind of freaked out and did not try to invite Yang. I mean, she was in the very centre of attention. I'll be in the spotlight if I tried to talk to her. Like, how do you deal with a crowd like that!? It's just too overwhelming for me! You know what I mean?"

"Haaaaaa, well done, team leader, I'm proud of your skill of making tactical retreats." Weiss could only palm herself in the face when she saw Ruby's face lighting up at her 'praise'. How could she forget that Ruby Rose was nigh immune to sarcasm, especially since she had tried it once on Ruby already? "That was not a compliment." Weiss sighed resignedly when she watched Ruby's expression drop. At least seeing that seemed to make Weiss l feel a little more cheerful. "And what about Blake?"

"Ummm…Blake was in the dorm, reading a book. She….seemed so intent in finishing that book. Her eyes were like drilling into the pages, kind of like me when I find a book about weapons, but of course, I'll probably be more excited and dance around in my fantasie-"

"Ah hem." Weiss gave a loud cough. "You were saying?" Ruby winced in pain at the ice queen's cold reception to her rambling. She continued, this time getting back on track.

"Anyway, I thought that maybe I should not try to interrupt Blake. I mean, it's really rude to interrupt someone when they are reading, especially when they are doing it so intens-AHHH!" Ruby felt her cute silver eyes almost pop out of her sockets as she gagged under the tug at her neck. Her red cloak was being pulled back, nearly strangling her. And the culprit?

Who else?

"RUDE?! YOU THINK INTERRUPTING SOMEONE IS RUDE?! WHY DID YOU NOT APPLY THAT LOGIC WHEN YOU INTERRUPTED ME FROM DOING MY HOMEWORK?! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU ALLOWED THAT BLAKE TO HAVE SUCH A RELAXING TIME WHILE HERE I AM BEING PULLED AROUND FOR YOUR RIDICULOUS IDEAS!" Unlike Ruby, Weiss has no problem fully expressing herself in public, so the full wrath of her booming voice was now washed over poor Ruby, like lava from an erupting volcano, its roars echoing through the unusually empty hallways.

Frightened beyond her wits at the sheer volume, Ruby could only stammer out a meek little "Erm…..sorry?" Poor girl. Perhaps on a better playing field she might actually stand up to Weiss as team leader, but of course, being choked via your cloak is not a very good source of courage. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

"SORRY DOES NOT CUT IT! THAT'S IT! I'M GOING BACK! YOU CAN GO WATCH YOUR STUPID WEAPONS ON YOUR OWN!" Letting go of Ruby's cloak, Weiss gave a haughty 'hmph' as she turned, fully ready to storm off, steam rolling through her brain, creating so much mental pressure that she felt like exploding. Thankfully, a mental douse of ice cold water went over her, when suddenly someone called out from the other direction.

"May I know who made such a racket?"

Weiss and Ruby both now swivelled about to look to the other end of the corridor, just as a very tall janitor, dressed in the blue uniform, with matching rubber gloves and boots, came walking towards them, broom in hand, while a wheeled bucket with a mop still in it were being pulled along behind him. Ruby had never seen anyone as tall as this man, whose hair and eyes was hidden beneath a neat little cap. He was easily a head taller than Cardin Winchester, the leader of Team CRDL and the tallest first-year to Ruby's knowledge.

At the same time, Weiss let out a breath of relief, glad that it was not a teacher that she had disturbed with her shouting. It was only a simple janitor. Her sigh of relief, however, betrayed her. "I take it you are the one, miss." The not-so-simple janitor nodded knowingly to Weiss, who, caught off guard, gulped a little in embarrassment.

"Haven't seen you students before. First-years, I take it?"

Weiss consoled herself back to normal and tried to put her foot down once again at this lowly janitor. Does he now know who she is? How dare he address to the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company like a mere little girl? Her voice came strong, each word clearly pronounced as Weiss tried her 'princess' charisma. "Yes, we are. And who-"

Unfortunately for Weiss, it did not work.

"Well, miss, you two are pretty far in the senior side of the Academy. I suggest keeping your trumpets down when you are here. If you irritate your seniors, they might not be as merciful as me. And if your screams crack a window pane, they will be more merciful than me." Weiss puffed her cheeks in sheer irritation as the janitor completely ignored interrupted her attempt at setting authority. How dare he show such cheeky disregard to someone of her status? As she stared angrily on at him, the janitor blankly looked at her before giving a small smile, which only serve to cause the flames in Weiss to flare up even more.

As for Ruby, she was already getting excited.

"Senior side?! I didn't know the Academy was divided between years?! So that's why we weren't seeing any people from the older years. Oh, I can't wait…..the weapons…seeing them...so good…." Both Weiss and the janitor watched Ruby with weird looks as the scenery darkened around the innocuous-looking little girl, who is now murmuring to herself as she evillly plotted her next great foray into the senior side for a little peek of her most favourite things on Vytal.

"Miss, might I ask why are you two dwelling so deep into this side in the first place? Your Initiation only ended three days ago. You should be resting."

"We just got lost. In fact, we were about to go bac-"

"We were looking for the training gym. Can you tell us where it is?" Weiss let out a breath of exasperation as she was interrupted once again, her arms shaking as she fumed at Ruby, who just ignored her and was now looking at the janitor, who lowered his cap as he gave a little guffaw behind it.

"Miss, you are right inside it." Ruby and Weiss both felt their jaw drop as the janitor explained. "This entire corridor here is the entrance to the main gym complex, but it itself is also a part of it. Did you notice that the corridor was excessively long, yet it has no doors at all?"

Ruby frowned. It did not seem that long to her, but that was a result of her own sheer speed and excitement. However, Weiss understood what the janitor was referring to, having struggled a good way of the corridor. The corridor had been easily 500 meters long and yet had no doors, only murals and paintings.

"This whole corridor is the speed racing section. It gives a straight line for speed-users to push themselves to their maximum limit while in the middle of combat. The murals and paintings are there to test whether the students can minimize their collateral damage, especially important if you fight creatures of Grimm in an urban area. And I swear, having been here for so long, there is a lot of collateral."

"But there is nobody here? Why is no one training? Where are the seniors?" Ruby asked, disappointment in her voice, her sad face looking surprisingly cute to the janitor. He forced himself to step back a bit, surprised by her face.

"C'mon Miss, use your head. I'm not going to be Mr. Exposition for you all the time." The janitor joked, as he begun to walk back to the direction from which he came. "It's Friday afternoon. You know what that means?"

"Ummm..." Ruby's head begun to look left and right in a blur-like fashion as she tried to think about why Friday afternoon was so important to the presence of seniors here. As expected, she could not draw any cards that make sense. The best that she could come up with was that the cafeteria sells dessert on Friday afternoon.

"End of school and the beginning of the weekends. Of course." Weiss smirked triumphantly as she realized she finally got a chance to say what she wanted without any interruption. Her comment also meant that there was now no reason for Ruby to stay here anymore. "No one will be stupid enough to start their weekends straight off with training. They will probably be partying, playing games or even sleeping. No matter what, they won't be willing to waste their free time."

"That's right. And even for the more hardworking teams, they usually do train now, but most of the time, they are also off doing assignments."

"Assignments? Hardworking people don't seem like the type to be bogged down by paperwork," Weiss replied with a sceptical frown.

"Oh, you will see in your years ahead." The janitor grinned almost evilly at the sight of Ruby suddenly shivering at the thought of even more paperwork. She was already having problems as it is; now she will have to deal with even more?! Oh, the horror. She could almost imagine it. From the ends of the corridor, a mountain of paper with Glynda's toughest questions rushing in like an unstoppable flood and there is puny little her, being washed away under the sheer force that is called homework.

"Well, we are _here_."

"Huh?" Both Weiss and Ruby blinked blankly at the janitor's sudden comment. They turned their heads to where the janitor's gloved finger was pointing, spotting a massive double-leaf door, easily five times their height, overshadowing them, with the words "Training Gym" emblazoned in gold on a large intricately carved wooden board above the door, which had two massive lions, roaring at once another, carved on it. "Wait, we were walking?" Weiss and Ruby gasped as they realized that when the janitor had walked away, the two of them had followed him as well.

"Well, Miss, you weren't hopping or crawling or running, so I guess, yes, you were walking." The janitor gave another small smile as his two fingers lightly pushed against the door, prompting its panels to slowly swing open. "So, do you want to go into the main complex?" Just as Ruby was about to say something and Weiss was also ready to do the same, the janitor nodded understandingly, "Well, I guess even with what I said, I do recall someone going in there, so I guess, you two coming here will not be such a waste of time after all. Why do you think told you to keep your voice down, if there was really nobody here?" The janitor grinned kindly at Ruby's face suddenly lighting up at the revived prospect.

Her dreams of weapons were not yet dead. "Thank you, mister! C'mon Weiss!" Ignoring Weiss' protests, Ruby bowed once to the janitor, who bowed back, before turning to hop straight through the doors and into the training gym. Her flowing red cloak was the last thing his cherry-blossom eyes saw as the door closed itself once again with a resounding bang, marking to the janitor that he was alone once more.

"What an interesting little duo. Wonder if they were the ones who beheaded that Nevermore and sent it into the canyon. That was a messy job." The janitor mused as his rubber boots, in a little dance, scrapped over the floor he recalled cleaning year after year, as he dragged his little bucket with its mop along, deciding that he needed to hurry to keep up with his tight schedule. He felt a little lightness in his heart to be able to get away from the routine, but it is this very same routine that allowed him to work so efficiently.

However, that girl's stunningly red cloak seemed to have an effect on him. It's still there, the image stuck in his mind, like a broken projector. "I swear I have seen that cloak before. Or something like it?" He frowned in deep thought, his pale skin creasing over his brows while he attempted to recall. He scoured through the shelves of his memories, but nothing seems to be popping up.

"Maybe I should have asked for their names. Well, at least they know my name. Thanks to this." The janitor grinned as he tapped at his heart area. However, he was not expecting the softness of flesh. He was expecting the hardness of cardboard. Cardboard, inked with fine words that truly represented him. His pride and joy, his one and true identity and the only thing that makes him stand out from all the other janitors in their gaudy uniforms.

"I take it I've been working without my name tag for the whole day?"


	4. Prologue Act 2

**Hello guys, sorry for the delay in uploading. I had just gotten a new laptop(which is epic) and needed to get new Office software for it, while still getting used to typing on it. Alright, excuses aside, this is Chapter 2 of the Prologue Act and we will be visiting a new character, as well as introducing to one part of the training gym. The chapters for now are a little slow, I admit, as I really want to get the training gym down.**

As the doors swung shut behind them, Ruby and Weiss suddenly halted their head-long rush into the gym, when they realized that it seemed to be unusually….empty. Weiss folded her arms as she let off a pompous air, scowling at this waste of her time.

"This is it? An empty room after all that? What a waste of my time." Case in point.

Indeed, the room they were currently in had no doors other than the one that they had just entered the room from. Its floor was tiled with grey metal squares and it had a rather high ceiling, almost as high as the hallways. However, it lacked the many paintings and murals of the 'speed section', being simply a bare and boring gray.

"Perhaps a 'jumping' section?" Ruby guessed, chewing her fingernail as she scanned the room, though she knew that her guess was wrong. Even if this was another section of the gym, where are the doors leading to the others? Also, didn't that janitor say that someone came in here?

"We should go back to the dorm. I'm looking forward to getting back to finishing my homework, which YOU interrupted." Weiss snorted. "So much for that idiotic, overly cheeky, rude janitor. I've had enough of this place!" Turning to strut away, Weiss grabbed Ruby by the cloak in an attempt to pull her away, much to her partner's gagging throat while she struggled with digging in her heels to prevent herself from moving.

"Wa-wait, Weiss! Maybe the room has more than meets the eye! Ah! Wait!" Ruby tugged back, hands around the knot that held her cloak, straining to prevent it from driving into her throat. Yet, despite her physical superiority to Weiss, the amount of strength that Ruby could put in from that position was barely enough at best. As a result, Ruby could only sulk as she was pulled away towards the entrance door. Then, the tension on her cloak stopped and Ruby realised that she could breathe properly again.

Weiss had stopped pulling her.

In fact, at that moment, Weiss was now using her two hands in an attempt to push the door open, but no matter how much force she applied, the double-leaf door simply refused to budge. Did the janitor lock them in? Weiss wondered. She was at first overwhelmed with horror at her inability to push the door but anger quickly filled her veins as she yelled, her arms banging on the door's immovable wood. "HEY! STUPID JANITOR! LET US OUT OF HERE! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!"

"Umm…Weiss…..?"

"GODDAMN IT! SO MAYBE I WAS A LITTLE LOUD, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD LOCK US IN HERE?! HEY!"

"Weiss."

"WHAT?!" Weiss turned back, her arms, reddened from the door-slamming, now shaking in utter rage. And then she saw what Ruby, who was now backing away to her side, was seeing. In the middle of the room was something that almost seemed like a trick of the light, a shimmering coat of refracted rays, which was now being slowly peeled off as the sound of rapidly beating wings suddenly became apparent in the background.

"Welcome to the Training Gym." The camouflage completely lost, the little metal ball, about the size of one's fist, stared at Ruby and Weiss with its glowing cyan cyclopean eye. Its little wings, each as wide as the main body, were barely visible as blurs, similar to that of hummingbirds.

"Is that a robot?" Weiss muttered under her held breath, her anger now defused by both curiosity and a little fear, especially with the way the ball seems to tilt its 'head', akin to a little baby examining his latest toys. Ruby, herself unfamiliar with this sort of technology, could only just utter a stammering "Uh…I don't know-"

"Beep! Scan complete." Its voice was terrifying, being not only very robotic, but also having a very low baritone-style tone, a gruff old man in a round shiny body. "Identification: Ruby Rose."

"Wha?" Ruby's eyes widened at the mention of her name and she almost freaked out over whether the robot was now going to ask her for some questions. It did not, instead droning on about the data regarding the student that it had just identified.

"First-Year student. Leader of Team RWBY. Age: 15. Weapon: High Velocity Sniper Scythe Crescent Rose. Aura Semblance: Speed."

Why is she feeling afraid? Weiss thought to herself as she realized that the robot ball had no intention of hurting them. In fact, now she feels kind of irritated that the drone is now just telling them things that they already know about. "Can you just skip-"

"Identification: Weiss Schnee." Totally ignored.

"Argh!" Weiss felt her teeth grind together as the image of crushing that little ball into scrap metal begun to form in the eye of her mind.

"First-Year student. Member of Team RWBY. Age: 17. Weapon: Multi Action Dust Rapier Myternaster. Aura Semblance: Glyphs. Welcome." The ball seemed to bow, tilting its 'head' forward and allowed its wings to briefly stop and lower in this polite greeting. "This unit's designation is the Beacon Instructive Tool, or BIT for short."

"An acronym for a name. How charming." Weiss snorted. Ruby could only give a small giggle, her fear now wearing off as she got used to the robot's presence.

"This unit was designed by Dr. Vernier, Professor of World Technology, who has proven to be an invaluable asset with his years of experience to this establishment. Beacon Academy is lucky to have such a brilliant, dedicated, world renowned, pioneering professor at its disposal."

"What?" Both Ruby and Weiss tilted their head to the side, unable to comprehend why BIT was now praising its creator so profusely. Oh, right.

"Please note once again: This unit was designed by the mighty Dr. Vernier." Weiss and Ruby simultaneously face-palmed. Of course, its creator has an ego.

At that moment, a roar of jet engines could be heard coming from above, over the robot's beating wings. The two girls promptly looked up when a section in the ceiling opened, revealing the white pillows of clouds dotting the blue blanket that is the sky. Down they came, with their propulsive engines lowering in intensity while slowing their descent. Ruby and Weiss stared blankly as their lockers landed in a position against one of the walls, prongs rising from the ground to lock them in place.

"Your lockers with your gear have arrived. At your current level, you will be allowed access to one of the nine sections of the training gym."

"What?" Weiss protested with her hands placed at her hips as she tried to stare down the unblinking BIT. "At our current level? Are you saying that you think that we cannot handle a simple gym?"

"This gym is designed specifically to place students in situations of extreme stress and pressure, enough to kill those who lack the skills and power to adapt. Restrictions on gym sections are thus placed to prevent such casualties. First-years are discouraged by Professor Goodwitch from using the gym for the first half of the year, unless they are already very strong. This unit asks whether you two regard yourself as such."

"Erm….I think I'm kind of normal?" Ruby gave a small hesitant smile, scratching the back of her head as she sheepishly looked away.

"Of course." Weiss smirked, her self-confidence showing through when she snorted, looking as if the concept of weakness was something that was utterly foreign.

"This unit understands. But this unit must follow restriction protocol and hence this unit cannot allow access to gym sections that threaten your safety."

"Umm….excuse me, BIT. We heard that there was someone in here. Is that someone in the same section as the one that we have access to?" Ruby felt herself pray a little, hoping that coming here was not for naught.

"Acknowledged." Processing her request, the glow in BIT's eye dimmed. "Searching. Confirmed. There is currently 1 student using the Cannon Ball section."

"Cannon Ball?" Weiss murmured, wondering at the name, but her thoughts were interrupted by Ruby whooping in glee. "Wait, Ruby!" Having experienced enough of the gym to know its trickiness, Weiss attempted to stop Ruby. However, before she knew it, Weiss was once again being pulled along by the arm, this time towards the new, glass-looking door that had appeared from the wall opposite to the entrance. And right on top of that door, were the words "Cannon Ball" in a sporty font, with the 'o' being drawn as a basketball.

BIT's voice came out from behind them, its tone now a little more urgent. "This unit implores those in attendance to please change from their uniforms into their battle gear or the gym clothes provided. Professor Goodwitch has explicit instructions to prevent the dirtying of school uniforms." Both Weiss and Ruby turned back, giving BIT the evil eye. The only door that had appeared was the one that led the Cannon Ball. There are no visible toilets.

That meant that if they have to change, they will have to change under the BIT's 'vigilant' eye.

"This unit does indeed have a 'perversion' function programmed by its brilliant creator, but that has been removed on Professor Goodwitch's orders. This room is fitted with coversheets to protect the students' privacy." As if to prove its point, around each of the girl's locker, a semi-circular set of curtains rose up from the ground, covering entirely from the floor to at least two times the height of the lockers.

However, Ruby and Weiss still refused to budge an inch. "You can camouflage yourself," Weiss pointed out, "There is no way I am going to change while you are around." Ruby nodded in agreement.

BIT almost seems to nod as well, its glowing eye blinking three times as it seems to be simulating a thinking position. "This unit understands your concerns. This unit will thus allow you to keep an eye on this unit while you are changing."

"That just means you will see us in the first place!" Weiss exclaimed, the small scar over her left eye now feeling like it is bulging in the wake of her exasperation.

"This unit thus proposes the provision of cameras to allow remote monitoring of this unit." BIT's metal ball casing seemed to reveal a little opening, with a spindly arm carrying a snake-like camera. It was forced to dodge as Weiss took the camera and threw it back at the robot.

"Like as if I want to be forced to simultaneously look at you and see myself in the mirror!"

"Then this unit knows no other possible compromises. This unit can only relay this message from Professor Goodwitch, made for those who come to her with sweaty school uniforms." BIT's eyes then dimmed. Suddenly, to the surprise of Weiss and Ruby, the familiar sound of a riding crop smacking against a hand could be heard throughout the room. The pause between each slap only serves to further accentuate the intensity of the sound, sending shivers down both Weiss and Ruby's spine as they fully understood Glynda's warning. They had a taste of her crop before. Almost everyone in the entire first-year already had.

This time, however, she might give them more than a mere slap on the wrist. Can they really risk it?

"This unit thanks you for your cooperation."

"Hmmph!" Weiss shrugged as she stepped out from behind the curtain around her locker, her hands still smoothing out her pale blue battle dress, feeling glad to be out of the Beacon uniform and back in her bolero jacket of the matching colour. To once again have the Schnee crest on her back reminded her once again of the future responsibility that she will have to bear. Weiss felt herself sigh internally. She sometimes wondered whether she will be better off without it.

"Hey, Weiss, look!" Weiss glanced towards Ruby, who was now spinning in circles in the Beacon gym clothes provided, a sleeveless black jersey with the white words "BEACON" branded on both sides and an equally black knee-length gym shorts with light green outlines. Weiss found it beneath her to wear such drab garb, but because her combat uniform was much more complicated in comparison, it took her a little longer to get herself changed. She found it to be a worthwhile disadvantage in exchange for something of _true_ style. "I didn't think that our Academy actually had something like this!" If only there was someone who could actually appreciate style, Weiss sighed to herself as she mutely watched Ruby going all-excited over her 'clothes'.

"Now can we go in, you stupid robot?" Weiss snapped at BIT, who had frankly remained politely floating in the middle of the room for the entire time. BIT tilted its 'head' down, which Weiss now had enough experience to understand it as a nod.

"This unit sees no problems. You can proceed. Do have a good time. When you are ready to leave, return to this room and call this unit again," BIT nodded again, or perhaps this time it bowed, before its shimmering camouflage coat began to wrap around it once more, giving off a brief vibrant display of refracted rainbow light, before disappearing in thin air.

"Well, I hope this gym does not have any more 'surprises'. I've quite had enough of it. And this Professor Vernier, I'm so going to not like him one bit," Weiss muttered under her breath.

"C'mon Weiss! Before we are too late," Enticed by the excitement of seeing a new weapon and a senior student at the same time, Ruby was already rushing ahead, her thigh-high laced boots energetically pushing her off the ground. Weiss could only shake her head in disapproval at Ruby's over-enthusiasm.

"You do know that even if the person is going to exit right now, he or she will have to go through the same door as us. We'll meet that person either way." Weiss pointed out, while at the same time feeling herself also pick up the pace, her mind pondering about what kind of person they are going to find. She was not without her own interest in the inevitable encounter, for while she has seen her company hire Hunters before, she has never actually seen any of them in real action. Well, perhaps excluding all of those tutors her family brought in for her, but she was young then; they did not really show her what they can really do. Maybe if this person was one of the best seniors, it might not hurt to make a powerful ally.

Oh, there she goes again, Weiss chastised her choice of word. 'Ally' just made her sound so scheming, but Weiss felt it would be a stretch to really say that she would be making a friend. She just hoped that they are not going to meet any Faunus; that would be truly sickening, senior or not.

Realising that her hatred was swallowing her common sense, Weiss hurriedly shook her head back to normal, just as Ruby had reached the glass doors of the Cannon Ball section, the tinted panels automatically sliding open to let them in. "Whoa….." Weiss blinked blankly at Ruby's voice, her partner suddenly halting on her heels, seemingly entranced by the sight of the section that Weiss had yet to see.

It must be just Ruby getting too easily impressed again. "It's just a training gym, Ruby…..I don't see why you should…." And then Weiss saw it too.

She had to hand it to Professor Vernier; he had a 'small' right to such a huge ego.

**Next up will be the Cannon Ball section. But first, the training gym. The training gym is basically going to be the social hub of my story. A lot of stuff will happen inside so I have to plan it out quite a bit. There are nine different advanced sections, as you have read, and each section possesses a unique and deadly challenge designed to push the Hunters to their limits. Due to their danger, the nine sections have been specifically ranked to restrict entry into the sections to only those who are really ready for it and can take the punishment each section will dish out during the training.**

**As for BIT, he and his kind are, in my story, the reason why the teachers can have hidden cameras all over the place. These camouflaging bots are always around the corner, keeping an eye on the students. Whether or not the students want it is a totally different matter.**

**And now, explanation aside, Cannon Ball will be up next Sunday, with its mysterious student to be revealed.**


	5. Prologue Act 3

**As promised, the 3rd chapter of the Prologue Act. Welp, nothing much else to say here. Enjoy!**

The Cannon Ball section. As the easiest section, it is considered by the senior students as the most fun and relaxing section. It has consequently become a frequent social hub that is only second to the cafeteria during school time. Despite being the smallest section at the same time, it is not uncommon to see bunches of students littered about hanging out on the large silver stairs that surrounded three sides of the seventy-meter-long court, usually entirely ignoring the little bots of the same model as BIT as they desperately try to persuade the students to make way for others.

Today, however, at the very start of the academic year and a Friday as well, such seniors weren't here to block Ruby and Weiss from admiring the entire sight of Cannon Ball. It almost seemed like an open-air court, except that instead the entire section was being covered by walls made out of peerless glass, to the point that it was only in the brief refraction of the sunset streams that gave the material away. Even the ceiling is too made of the same glass. To make things even more fantastic, the entire section was located on near the very edge of a tiny extension of the cliff, giving the girls a picturesque view of both the land and the sea, as if they were still on the airships that had brought them to Beacon Academy a few days ago. Ruby, looking up, could see overhead the orange-dyed clouds lazily following the guidance of the Vale land breeze, moving out towards the sea's infinite horizon. The waters of the vast basin of the Vale River looked like perfect crystals as they glimmered under the dying sun. Weiss looked to the north instead and she got a clear sight of Beacon's mountains, majestic giants of rock that towered over the Academy, linking arms with each other in a protective ring around what she knew was the Emerald Forest. They too were stained orange by the sun, whose rays have been like the tips of a paint brush held by this master artist who found the world as his canvas.

This view was Cannon Ball's most attractive aspect and Weiss almost felt a little bit in disbelief that the super-egotistical Professor Vernier was such a designer. Where Weiss and Ruby had entered in from was located on the highest 'floor' of the oval-shaped section. From there, they could go down the long row of stairs and would get a chance to admire some of the graffiti that generations of students have painted onto the massive steps that are also used as seats. A mixing gold-wearing DJ, words in an energetic electrical font and another font made out of different weapons. The latter caused Ruby to give a small squee, prompting a brief frown from Weiss. Down they went, using a different set of stairs that had smaller steps, lined with glowing cyan circuits.

The court almost looked like it had a wooden-boarded basketball floor, in contrast to the metallic surfaces so far, but Weiss noticed that the floor was actually shimmering a little and she wondered whether the wooden surface was just a projected image. At each of the two far ends of the court, levitating in the air, were the goal posts, being held up by jet engines that were surprisingly silent despite the obvious cones of propulsion spewing out from them. Most importantly, they were levitating way high up, being under Ruby's estimates around thirty meters. Both Weiss and Ruby could do that comfortably. If they had the help of their weapons.

That made it all the more shocking to watch a black blur suddenly zooming up from the court floor, his arm dramatically dunking an unusual white-black-striped ball straight into the hoop. Ruby and Weiss both quickly jumped back as the ball zoomed past them in almost an instant. Had they blinked they would not have caught the ball's incredible acceleration nor would they have realised that the ball had just bounced off the court floor.

They would also not have seen the black blur suddenly appearing beside them, catching the high-speed bullet ball out of mid-air with a single hand. All without any sign of a weapon helping him out, much to Ruby's later disappointment. However, at that moment, she and Weiss were both more occupied with getting shocked by the man's sudden 'teleportation' as they jumped back, resulting in them comically jumping into one another, colliding and crashing to the ground together like two poor misguided pigeons. For the second time in her life, Ruby had gotten the opportunity to feel taste her own medicine when she had pulled off the same disappearing act on Weiss in the Beacon Initiation.

However, this time, she suddenly felt a little intrigued instead. 'He's fast,' She felt herself think excitedly. 'He's just as fast as me. Perhaps better.' At that very moment, she felt her Aura begin to act up. Her Semblance was now aching to compete.

This 'he' she had been referring to now stood there, his tall body looming over the body pile that was the fallen duo. His chestnut brown eyes, tiny irises in narrow lids, were plainly, and rather rudely, scrutinizing the two girls that had suddenly appeared. His slim, yet toned arm brought a hand to his black and mostly swept-back hair, as he scratched his head, as if out of confusion on what to really say. As he did this, he also simultaneously pushed away the large bang of hair on his left side, annoyed by it constantly covering his left eye. His tapping foot, entirely bare, was hinting at his lack of appreciation of the girls continuing to stare at him from their crumpled position on the floor.

And all of this opinion interpretation was done without one hint from his face, as it was practically a portrait of a thin-lipped man whose idea of a smile seemed to be a straight line and whose surprise seemed to be a harsh expression of blankness. Overall, Weiss thought to herself, this man looked even less appealing than that Jaune fellow. He was entirely unattractive with that demonic look of his. Faunus or not, she could not find it within herself to even like this guy one bit.

At least his voice was smoothly low, almost baritone, as he made the first move. "Who are you?"

'Wow. He's blunt.' Weiss thought to herself, her negative first impression of this guy persuading her to take the offensive. "We were about to ask you the same question." Weiss asked back, her voice straining itself to be a little snappy.

The man, however, seemed unperturbed by her attempt, if his face was anything to go by. "In that case, as we are asking the same question, there is no difference in priority of who gets the answer first based on the question urgency. As a result, we must defer to the common order of conversation. As the one who asked first, it is only logical that I will be the one who gets my answer first."

Weiss felt her jaw sag. What in Remnant did that man just say to her? Who talks like _that_?

"Are you finding yourself incapable of comprehension?"

Okay, now he is just trying to get on her nerves. "Hey! Just who-?!"

"Are you experiencing any mild nausea? Splitting headaches? Numbness in your limbs?"

Weiss blinked blankly, before going into an even more snappy mood. "I'm fine! What are you-?"

"I am simply diagnosing for any symptoms that would indicate the condition that is behind your loss in motor control, culminating in you lying on top of your clearly suffering companion."

"Weiss…" More blank blinking. More silent staring. And Weiss felt a hotness rush to her cheeks.

"Ruby! I'm so sorry !" Weiss hastily picked herself up, pulling away her _Myternaster _that also had it pommel digging into Ruby's back. The poor little Riding Hood slowly picked herself, shaking like an out-dated robot on its last legs, as she smoothed her hand over her sore back, whimpering quite a bit. Weiss felt a tinge of sorrow at the sight. She also guiltily had a little enjoyment at the sight of what she thought was Ruby's just desserts for all of the trouble she had caused. However, at the same time, this guy had caught her in a very unsightly and compromising position.

While Ruby was in the background trying to feel sensation in her back again, Weiss, fuming over her embarrassment, swerved towards the man, who had been watching the scene without a shade of amusement other than the fact that his foot stopped tapping the floor. She would not be so easily ridiculed by this idiotic guy. Jamming her finger at his chest, Weiss could barely hold back the redness in her face as she threatened to explode. "LISTEN, YOU! DON'T THINK-"

She felt a warm, sweaty palm clasp hers as, out of the blue, the man shook her hand. "To answer your question, my name is Vulturn."

Weiss felt herself become completely defused, her anger literally thrown away into her mind's dark corners. A sudden cold breeze seemed to pass through the section, further accentuating to Weiss the unusually warm hand wrapped around hers. The mental cogs in her mind were now clearly groaning in pain, unable to take the constant surprises that she was being pummelled with. Then, her anger came rushing back, refusing to be side-lined so easily. The almost hot pressure rapidly built up onto her mind's ceiling, threatening to release the hot lava of wrath. Something had to give. "Wha…..Wha…." So something did.

Weiss blew up.

"WHAT!?" Ruby hurriedly covered her ears as Weiss's voice roared through the section, completely putting the breeze to shame. "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR 'PROPER ORDER OF CONVERSATION'?! WAS EVERYTHING YOU RAMBLED AT ME JUST A STUPID JOKE OF YOURS?!" This guy has to playing with her!

Yet no matter how lava-red Weiss' face got, Vulturn showed no surprise, shock, anger or fear. There was perpetually nothing showing off his face. Instead, his voice was calm and cool and so was his response. "The proper order of conversation has indeed been followed. Since I have already received the answer to my question, I must thus return the answer to your question as well. It was only logical,_ Weiss_."

Perhaps had Weiss been calmer and controlled, the smartest girl in class might have figured it out. In the pissed state that she is though, Weiss was not the same. Expressing her rage was all that her mind was occupied with. "TO HELL WITH YOUR LOGIC! I NEVER TOLD YOU MY NAME!"

"Erm…..I did." From the lonely side-lines, Ruby's voice sheepishly came out. The little girl raised a shaking hand, clearly hesitant to face Weiss, whose ferocious eyes fired storms of daggers towards her. "And you told mine." Ruby, in an attempt of a joke to defuse the overwhelming hostility piercing into her, gave a little awkward chuckle.

Big mistake.

"AHHH! STOP, THAT HURTS!" Vulturn looked on, silently, at Ruby crying in pain as Weiss, her teeth chaffing enough to pulverize rock, grinded her fists into both sides of the poor girl's head. "ARGH! I'M SORRY!" Tortured tears were already profusely running down Ruby's face, the pain too great for her to even fight back. Yet, Weiss was not yet ready to let up, the memories of her embarrassment a few seconds back still fresh in her furious mind.

"Stupid Ruby, why couldn't you just stop getting me in trouble?!" Weiss scolded, her arms pressing even more in as she placed more pressure onto Ruby's head. "First you blow me up, then you get me falling off a Nevermore, then you take me away on this little excursion away from my important homework, get me in trouble with that stupid janitor, be sexually harassed by that peeping tom of a drone and now THIS GUY! Wherever you take me always seems to be a big pile of trouble, for ME!" Breathing heavily after her rant, Weiss allowed the pressure on Ruby to grow a little more, but before she could do anything truly severe, she noticed from the corner of her eyes something else that was unacceptable. So unacceptable that Weiss instantly let go of Ruby, her body shaking uncontrollably under the influence of her magnified rage.

Vulturn had turned around and walked away, his head now pointed towards the levitating goalpost, a clear sign that he had chosen to completely ignore the commotion behind him and went back to doing whatever he so pleases. Weiss had not forgotten about the disgraceful embarrassment he has brought about on her.

"HEY! Don't show your back to me!"

Vulturn halted in his stride, turning back his head in a manner Weiss hoped was indicative of shock and surprise. Ruby was now slumped on the floor with her hands over her head, groaning but otherwise fine. "Stupid Ruby might have gotten my attention, but I've definitely not forgotten about you." Weiss smiled smugly, her hand already winding itself around the grip of Myternaster, while the other was pointing a crude accusatory finger at Vulturn. "As heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, I cannot simply tolerate such an embarrassment. I-"

Then, Vulturn's brows lower ever so slightly in what Weiss could barely interpret as a scowl. To see even an inkling of an expression from that kind of face caught Weiss entirely off guard. She was, frankly, frightened by that mere move. She hesitated and then she immediately cursed that same hesitation.

Damn it, not again.

"How does being an heiress have any influence with your level of emotional restraint?" Weiss cringed at Vulturn swiftly taking the opportunity to speak, his feet slowly carrying him closer to her, each long-legged stride slow and deliberate. It was a simple but effective gesture. All of a sudden, Weiss felt her smugness melt away while a tension known as nervousness rose within her, as she begun to realise up-close how tall Vulturn was. Only Cardin Winchester was slightly taller, but that guy was a petty bully, all brawn and little else. Vulturn's icy exterior made him much more imposing, to the point that Weiss could almost imagine him a cold Colossus towering over an ant like her, those steel-like eyes boring down on her shaking body, his hands almost ready to reach out and crush her insignificant little head.

That cold demeanour and that sheer intimidation emanating off him spoke of volumes of experience in very brutal combat. Not the stuff taught in the basic academies and found in the alleyways and mafia clubs, but the real deal, outside the kingdom and into the deepest wilds where the Grimm truly reigned. Furthermore, Weiss has seen her fair share of first-years. There is no way this guy is one of them. He must be a senior, hardened by years at the academy. Weiss wondered to herself whether she had over-estimated her ability to stand up to such a person. Her self-confidence melted even further when Vulturn continued to speak and what he spoke threw daggers straight into her heart.

"In fact, I find it questionable for you being in Beacon, an academy meant for Hunters, when your inheritance clearly demands far too much time for you to be even able to work in an occupation that would put your warrior skills to good use. Are you not aware that being here would bring clear trouble to your future?" Weiss felt herself step a little back, each sentence striking her soundly. He was close, so very close. She could almost picture his fingers just barely brushing on the surface of the truth, enough to brush off the disguising dust and reveal what was inside. "You would better acquire skills that would serve well in your future responsibilities in a business academy. Why are you not in such an establishment?"

'However,' she reminded herself, her fists clenching tightly back, 'he is an outsider.' His judgement of her was without any real context, meaningless and inaccurate. Weiss should not be ashamed for defying the expectations others lump onto her.

A tinge of disgust stung within Weiss as she realised that she had just quoted that hypocrite of a father. She was grateful that he had at least some sensible words to say, but if only he had the actions to back up his credibility.

Stopping herself from further retreating, Weiss now stepped forward, jabbing her finger bluntly into Vulturn's chest, her furious eyes meeting Vulturn's dull and cold ones. Forget about the past for now, Weiss composed herself. She has something far more important to focus on at the moment.

"How you dare change the topic?I don't care about the way you judge me or your 'recommendations' on what is actually my _own_ future, but I will say this again: I will make up the pride that you have tarnished with your retarded rambling." Weiss shook off her doubts as she continued to speak.

So what if he is a senior? So what if his appearance unnerves her and she has a sneaking suspicion that she might regret what she was going to say next? She is Weiss Schnee and right now, in the honour of her last name and the crest on her back, she can only do one thing.

"I challenge you…." Weiss paused as she resolutely pulled out Myternaster, the revolver component within the rapier's hilt now rotating, ready for combat, "to a duel."

**Up next: Next chapter, 3.5, will be almost these same set of events that has occurred here but they will be from a much different perspective. That's right! Chapter 3.5 will bring us into the mind of Vulturn, who I hope you will find an interesting character.**


	6. Prologue Act 3 and a Half

**Welcome to Chapter 3 and a Half of the Prologue Act. It should be 3.5 but apparently the titling system just made it Prologue Act 35, which is definitely not I wanted. This chapter is a little confusing because most of it is based on the events of Chapter 3, so I suggest that you read that before you read this. In this other half of a chapter, it will be from a 3rd person perspective of Vulturn, this story's main OC, and you will get a taste of his psyche and thought processes.**

He was so assured every single time that he had made the right choice, but in the end, all he did was to make all sorts of wrong decisions.

Vulturn internally cursed to himself as he watched the girl standing before him, his eyes carefully tracking the rapier blade being waved right in his face. His first impression of Weiss, the stubborn little heiress of "Whoever that makes Whatever Company", had been bad from the very beginning, since the moment she had strode into the court in that obnoxiously lady-like manner. Vulturn had immediately known that their personality types would have had horrible chemistry and going on that information, he should have just ignored both her and her friend Ruby, even though he wondered whether that he might have had better luck with the latter.

He just did not want to get the precious training time he has left wasted on the petty trivialities of conversations.

It was only due to a random event that sparked a further split-second consideration which in turn changed his mind on that issue. The former was referring to the Cannon Ball, after being dunked into the hoop, bouncing straight towards the duo at its trademark speed.

It was not about their safety. If they had managed to get into the training gym, they should be able to handle the ball just fine. However, if they caught it, they would have the power to control and stop the Game. Then he would have been forced through the entire introductory process before he could have a conceivable chance to persuade them to relinquish that power back to him. An even worse possibility would be that they would attempt to join it. Again, that would lead to unnecessary delays and needless inefficiencies.

He would have to risk going near the duo to catch the ball then. Hopefully he will be fast enough to just get back into the game without any of them spotting him doing so. If he succeeded, he could just completely ignore the two's existence while maximizing his training time.

If he succeeded.

Pity he underestimated that Ruby girl.

Vulturn had to give it to her as she, with her friend, stumbled backwards upon seeing him; her reaction time was very good. To most first-years, he was just a black blur, impossible to track, even when he stops for the most miniscule moment. By the time their eyes could see that same blur, Vulturn would have been already long gone to somewhere else. But Ruby's eyes managed to track him almost immediately. The instant he saw her Aura getting excited, Vulturn was assured of his failure. At the same time, it - how should he put it? – piqued his interest. Only a little, though.

It was still so annoying, to think through all of his moves and yet be still forced to go through those 'trivialities' he professed his indifference for so profusely a few moments ago. He would just have to endure them and get this over with as swiftly as possible.

"_Who are you?"_

"_What do you want?"_

"_Get out."_

Short and direct. These were his intended words for the conversation that was to come. If he had succeeded in delivering them, he would be able to be back in peace and in training. And while the two girls were busy squirming on the floor, Vulturn, the seconds of his wasted time being counted in his head, asked the first of his sentences. _"Who are you?"_

Pity he underestimated the Weiss girl too.

"_We were about to ask you the same question."_

An utter disregard for simplicity in conversation was not within his expectations. Perhaps he should have added her pompousness into his prediction, but then it was too late. Vulturn postulated that it may be possible to try to salvage the situation

However, Vulturn had tried to slowly and carefully convey the meaning of traditional conversation to Weiss, to alas no avail. What part of "defer to the common order of conversation" did she find so hard to understand? Such a simple concept should not be so hard to grasp and yet the sight of seeing someone being unable to do so confounded Vulturn.

That and along with the fact that he could not ignore Ruby still being crushed under Weiss' weight.

"_Are you experiencing any mild nausea? Splitting headaches? Numbness in your limbs?"_

Vulturn recalled wondering whether that sentence above had some sort of in-joke that was supposed to be stereotypically infuriating to girls. Perhaps it was the implying to the girls that their female bodies are not strong enough to handle what Vulturn would estimate to be fifty or so kilograms on their backs. Ah, he could understand how insulting that would be.

"_I am simply diagnosing for any symptoms that would indicate the condition that is behind your loss in motor control, culminating in you lying on top of your clearly suffering companion."_

Enough, back to the 'trivialities of conversation'.

In hindsight, Vulturn wondered whether he had been testing fate when he thought that. Conversation had, in a few unexpected seconds, shown itself to never be so simple. As the spittle from Weiss' shouts had bounced against his nonchalant face, he had attempted and failed to comprehend how a simple question for symptoms along with a statement about the very real fact that Weiss is crushing Ruby would have gotten the heiress so riled up.

However, he at least had managed to get his first question answered, even if it had been through commentary between the two. It had not mattered to him anyway. He had just really wanted to get this over and done with, the seconds in his head counting up to minutes. So to push the conversation along, he had decided to hurriedly give the answer to Weiss' question. _"To answer your question, my name is Vulturn."_

If only he had known she did not seem to take kindly to his impatience.

"_WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR 'PROPER ORDER OF CONVERSATION'?! WAS EVERYTHING YOU RAMBLED AT ME JUST A STUPID JOKE OF YOURS?!"_

Vulturn felt a little stung at the careless accusation. No, it was most certainly not a 'joke'. A 'joke' refers a series of statements that through careful application of content and delivery provokes laughter out of the joker's target. Vulturn found nothing funny about explaining the order of conversation or being forced to waste his time to make a medical diagnosis.

It was perhaps best to assure her that nothing had been wrong with whatever he is saying. That was what Vulturn had thought when he said the following, _"The proper order of conversation has indeed been followed. Since I have already received the answer to my question, I must thus return the answer to your question as well. It was only logical…..Weiss."_

Why did he add her name at the end? An insult to injury? What good would that do at ending this already tiresome conversation? Confusion at his own action went through Vultun as he begun to find himself getting unnecessarily caught up in this emo-.

Oh.

"_TO HELL WITH YOUR LOGIC! I NEVER TOLD YOU MY NAME!"_

At that very moment, Vulturn could imagine himself burying his face into his hands. What to do? With that last statement, he now fully understands what was going on. It was so startlingly obvious that he should have noticed it from the very beginning.

Emotions….unneeded, unbridled emotions have come into play.

"_Erm…..I did. And you told mine._" Vulturn would have been briefly caught off guard by Ruby coming back into the conversation out of the blue, but he was too caught up with his own lamentations to care one bit.

Emotions are those stupid little voices in your head that prompt you to exaggerate or underestimate reality. Vulturn felt like likening them to ridiculous, undesirable gossipers who blow things out of proportion, increasing every tall tale by another meter. To dump logic aside and to be led by the nose by such petty pests, the reason for doing such a thing always eluded him. There probably was never a real reason in the first place.

"_AHHH! STOP, THAT HURTS!"_

It confounded Vulturn slightly, how Weiss allowed herself to be so rampantly controlled by her emotions. Look at her, the pinnacle example of someone who has allowed her emotions to undermine the much more preferable order of practical thought.

A second ago, she had hurriedly got herself off apologizing to Ruby. Now, -"URGH!"- she is cruelly assaulting her. He couldn't rationalize the marked change in Weiss' concern for her partner's well-being. More accurately, he shouldn't; it is quite clear that this was just another burst of wild emotion, something that never does a good job of conforming to rationality in the first place.

However, Vulturn noted, Ruby might really get hurt if that continues on for too long. That would potentially prompt the protective protocols of the training hall. It would then cause this section to be momentarily stopped as medical gets called down here to pull the injured student out, ultimately leading to an unforgiveable delay in his training.

'Perhaps I should step in to avoid such a situation,' Vulturn coolly considered this possibility, his hand under his chin while he weighed the benefits, the background noise of Ruby's cries completely blocked out.

He found himself dismissing the idea in seconds. Logically, the probability of such circumstances arising is incredibly slim in the first place and any action to step in to prevent them from happening would definitely in and of itself deprive him of a good deal of his training time. It was plainly, in harsh terms, dumb to do something that _would _cost him to prevent something that _could_ cost him. In the end, it was an easy, simple decision.

He begun to turn to walk away, his eyes now ignoring the two girls behind him and entirely focused on the levitating goal, which had, as per the rules of the Game, gotten even higher. He should be focused on it, as training routine demands. Yet, somewhere, within some part of his mind, Vulturn could hear the tired whisper of what he has long ignored and exiled away. A tiresome reminder, best to be shut down, as Vulturn did.

So what if that Ruby girl gets hurt? That is first of all not likely to happen and even if it does, it will be far more efficient to try to at least maximise as much training as possible before it happens. Doing anything to try to stop it would probably infuriate Weiss even more.

He should care about her well-being? Why? For what purpose? She was a stranger to him, admittedly one who has great reflexes, but otherwise a stranger. Not an ally, not someone who could be of really great use, someone whose loss would, Vulturn quickly determined, have absolutely no effect on him. To help her would be making a significant investment unworthy of the time.

With each clash in his head, Vulturn clearly dominated, his logic triumphing over those petty emotions. By the time he reached the middle of the court and sighted the goal-post once more, his head was clear enough to let his focus narrow straight up at his target, his feet ready to leap. The two little distractions in the same room were now completely out of his perception.

"HEY! Don't show your back to me!" But one little distraction just demanded to claw her way back in.

Vulturn nearly wanted to jump the moment he heard that voice, to get away and just ignore the girls as he had originally planned. But how much of his original planning has actually gone well? He asked himself that question as he now voluntarily lost his focus, turning his head back to meet Weiss' glares. And such glares they were: emotion-driven and an utter disregard of practicality. How typical.

Vulturn would not be as emotional as to say that he_ hated_ those kinds of people. No, they were beneath him. To deal with them was akin to dealing with flies, an utter annoyance. Their rants were without substance and reason. Everything they did could ultimately be traced back to being a form of ego-serving. To find so many among the first-years was truly disappointing; he had expected more from Beacon.

"As heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, I cannot simply tolerate such an embarrassment."

What? What did she just say? That was what immediately came to Vulturn's mind when Weiss came out and stated her status. The moment he got a grasp of who she really is, Vulturn could almost felt a compulsion within him to diagnose the girl as being, for lack of better words, 'wrong in the head'. So many questions just erupted in his head. The simple illogicality of her presence here confounded him to degrees that he had rarely reached before. And with that 'little' surprise, Vulturn found himself scrutinizing Weiss even more closely. "I-" And it seems, from her sudden hesitance, that she had noticed it.

To say that he was curious was a massive understatement. He could not concoct any possible explanations for why this heiress would be here. The lack of knowledge and the inability to make a conclusion annoyed him, in an intriguing manner. So many questions waiting to be answered, to leave them unsatisfied would be an unwanted distraction in his training. He must get the necessary answers and there could only be one source: Weiss herself.

"_How does being an heiress have any influence with your level of emotional restraint?"_

"_In fact, I find it questionable for you being in Beacon, an academy meant for Hunters, when your inheritance clearly demands far too much time for you to be even able to work in an occupation that would put your warrior skills to good use. Are you not aware that being here would bring clear trouble to your future?"_

"_You would better acquire skills that would serve well in your future responsibilities in a business academy. Why are you not in such an establishment?"_

He had many more than those three but Vulturn also wanted to strike a balance between the time he spent getting the answers and the time he has left for good training. He chose these three as the most critical and the most demanding to be answered. In readiness to hear her answers, Vulturn had stepped closer towards Weiss, though he wondered from her sudden look of fear whether his approach had been tactful.

Indeed, he concluded that it was not, when Weiss started to jab her finger into his chest, her fear clearly replaced with even more foolish rage. The sensation of the polished nail poking into his skin brought to Vulturn's mind the image of a mosquito, all the more pest metaphors for him to tag onto those who allowed their emotions to run so free. "How you dare change the topic? I don't care-" Vulturn's mind shut off the background noise grating onto his emotional control. He cannot allow himself to get dragged into the maelstrom as well. Part of him was itching to turn his body around and just get back into training while another part advised that he wait for her to cool-down so that she could provide satisfactory answers to his questions. Vulturn decided to go to the latter. No matter what happens to the quantity of training routine, the quality of it was also an equally, if not even more, important factor to the effectiveness of the routine.

"I challenge you…."

A little investment of time would definitely be worth-

"to a duel."

Not a single thing.

A duel?

Vulturn felt the slightest jump in his heartbeat. Panic? Anger? He did not want to know.

Vulturn could not believe that everything he has done, so carefully and methodically, could have led to this worst of the worst conclusions. A duel in Beacon Academy required strict supervision from a teacher, which in and of itself already a severe time sponge in finding such a teacher. Both fighters will also need to negotiate the area and the timing of the duel, but from Vulturn's perspective, it is likely that Weiss would have wanted it immediately, which means that he could not leave to continue on his training until the duel is done.

And if the duel actually commences, Weiss would be dead.

One look at her from top-down gave Vulturn all the information he needed. One strike from him, no matter how held-back, would have obliterated Weiss. He might as well stand still throughout the duel and let her impale herself on his hand. It would not have been of his fault, just which of the power gap between them, but still he might be liable for murder for killing a fellow student. The risk of expulsion from Beacon Academy was very real and Vulturn could absolutely not afford that.

Even if it was ruled as an accident, Weiss' family was also a very severe factor as well. Killing the daughter of a powerful family, no matter how unintentional, would surely incur their wrath and they would likely invoke the law to get at the one responsible no matter the cost. Vulturn was not looking forward to being trampled over by an army of lawyers.

It was a pity that Ruby, who was now picking herself up, looking still very dizzy, was here as a witness to this. Vulturn could have just taken the simple solution: kill Weiss there and then and dump her body to the creatures of Grimm, letting her be a casualty of Beacon Academy's mortality rate.

Vulturn wondered for a moment, whether he could just kill them both. However, he was unsure whether he would be able to catch up with Ruby's speed before she could reach BIT just a room away. A possibility Vulturn was not willing to risk.

"Well?" The hand with white nails came out suddenly. Weiss, apparently in an attempt to get his attention, quickly reached out towards Vulturn's hand that was carrying the Cannon Ball, trying to snatch it away from his grasp.

In an instinctive response, Vulturn swerved his body about, such that he rotated around her snatch and pushed his back against hers. Weiss, unable to catch up by his speed and fluidity, was pulled forward by her momentum, ungracefully stumbling to maintain her balance. It was in vain and she thus fell flat on her face, but while Ruby was now trying to stifle her giggles, Vulturn had his attention on something else. He was, to be fair, caught off guard. Not by Weiss, he saw her coming ever since her eyes were focused on the Cannon Ball.

Vulturn was caught off guard by the Cannon Ball in his hand and the idea it gave him. An idea that if implemented could satisfy Weiss' demands for a confrontation, as well as give Vulturn some exercise. It was obvious from the onset that there was no way he was going to get any normal training done. He might as well find a suitable substitute.

"I don't agree to your duel, Weiss. However, I want to play a game, with a reward that might interest you." Vulturn, finally out of his thoughts, turned to Weiss, who was picking herself up. Her light blue eyes seemed to imply some intrigue at his proposal. Good, Vulturn thought to himself, as he begun to spin the Cannon Ball on his finger. He had a reward in mind that he knew that someone of her personality could not resist.

"If you can snatch the Cannon Ball from my grasp, I will be your unquestioning and loyal servant for your four years in Beacon Academy."

**And there we go, Vulturn's psyche. A vile hatred for uncontrolled emotions that warp one's judgement and a near-reverence of using objective logic to consider his decisions. Also, he has rather unusual priorities. It is perfectly all right to hate him and I myself do hate him at this stage.**


	7. Prologue Act 4

**A lot more action-packed, I give you Chapter 4 of the Prologue Act.**

"The rules will be simple: snatch the ball away and my servitude is yours."

Weiss wondered whether she was really listening to Vulturn. Her body had practically frozen, reeling too much from the shock of the offer that she had just been given. Right now, her mind was split into two halves, each driven by a different motive.

"I will not attack you in any way."

One half of her was absolutely excited at the offer. A fierce-looking senior like this as her servant for the rest of her years in RWBY would no doubt be utterly beneficial to her performance here. There was no way anyone would be able to stop her, the smartest girl in class, if she had what she hoped to be a very powerful senior at her beck and call. So, "YES! DEFINITELY YES!" was what that half was telling her.

"You're free to do whatever you want to get the ball from me. No weapons, though."

The other half of her was absolutely enraged by the offer. This guy was definitely sure of his ability to beat her if he was so willing to put his freedom on the line. He was clearly insulting her with this offer, practically underestimating her abilities. So, "YES! TAKE IT AND SHOW HIM WHO IS BOSS!" was what the other half was telling her.

"When the sun rises, the game ends and I will win if I still have the ball."

Essentially, doesn't that mean that both halves are just screaming for "YES!"?

"So, what do you say?"

Was there really any doubt? Weiss wondered to herself as her mouth opened to speak out her decision. Her voice came out before she could locate the one and only doubt in her mind. "YOU'RE ON! DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE DAUGHTER OF THE SCHNEE FAMILY!"

What if he was far too powerful for her, even with all of the rules that are supposedly to her advantage?

For the briefest of moments, Weiss saw something that amplified that doubt a hundred-fold: Vulturn's tight lips were turning up at the edges. It was a miniscule change, but Weiss could easily guess that she had just seen Vulturn's version of a smile.

"Well then, the game begins. I'll go and stand at the middle of the court." Vulturn's lips were now straight-lined again, as he turned his back to slowly walk, the Cannon Ball spinning on the finger of his right hand. Weiss gritted her teeth, the doubt weighing down on her as her confidence was starting to falter. As Vulturn got nearer and nearer to the court center marked by a white circle, Weiss felt the atmosphere intensify as she waited for the game to commence, her hesitance growing more and more on the impending moment.

"Weiss, get him." Weiss nearly jumped out of her skin when she was reminded by the low whisper that Ruby was here too, watching from the sidelines.

And then she realised what Ruby meant. "Oh, I'm so stupid." Weiss cursed as she immediately pressed down on her feet and launched herself straight at Vulturn, who was still walking to the centre of the court with his back turned away from her.

What did Vulturn say again?

"The game begins."

The game had started the moment he said that, no matter what else he had said, no matter where his intended position was. She had been, all along, this whole time, been entirely free to catch Vulturn from behind.

Thanks to Ruby, Weiss managed to understand that. A triumphant smile was almost forming on her mouth when Weiss witnessed the very tips of her finger scrap the ball before it dived right under her grip.

The moment she realised that Vulturn was also clearly baiting her prompted her to lose her smile. Weiss watched helplessly as Vulturn's ball-carrying arm lowered itself under hers to avoid her hand. Vulturn himself had swivelled about to walk the opposite way, just as relaxed and uncaring of her presence as the last time. He was completely unfazed by her first attempt and the shock at his ease to avoid her almost caused Weiss to lose hope of beating him.

"That was close, Weiss! Go for it!" However, Ruby was right. Weiss was close, even though Vulturn had clearly set up that trap. Weiss felt herself getting pumped up again. She could try to take him head-on. Yes, he can't attack her in any way. A series of grabs might be fast enough to get that ball out of his idiotic grasp.

Weiss, her entire attention focused on the ball, once again made another charge. Her outstretched arm was met with the ball slipping right under her grasp, but Weiss was undeterred, sending her other arm in to compensate. However, she missed again as Vulturn, still straight-faced, rolled the ball down his hand to let it be caught in his elbow, keeping it out of Weiss' reach. Weiss made another grab at that position, but all she felt was empty air as the ball was rolled once more, now caught between Vulturn's head and shoulder. When she made for a fourth attempt, Weiss realised that Vulturn had now stopped walking and had been entirely standing on a single spot the entire time.

'No matter!' Weiss assured herself as she once again failed, Vulturn having thrown the ball back into his hand. 'He'll regret underestimating me.' Weiss paused for a moment to make a grab with both arms, one aimed at Vulturn's hand while the other made for the elbow in anticipation of the rolling ball.

Then Vulturn stepped towards Weiss, his chest just centimetres away from her face. Her arms once again touched nothing more than empty space as Vulturn weaved his arm around her head to lightly throw the ball towards his catching shoulder.

"ARGH! STOP BEING SO FLEXIBLE!" Weiss yelled, her anger getting the better of her, as her leg came into the fray, aiming straight to drop-kick the ball away from Vulturn. She was, after all, allowed to do whatever she wanted to get the ball. If Vulturn throws the ball to another part of his body, her kick will go straight for his shoulder. Weiss knew that he will be in so much pain that she will be able to easily get the ball from him. A cheap move, but one to get the job done.

As Vulturn, his dull brown eyes watching her, threw the ball back into his hand, Weiss gave a triumphant smile as the top of her foot was pushed forward by a very small blue glyph. She was using her Semblance. Usually she would use Myternaster to summon them, but she could also conjure a smaller version with less powerful effects. While she can use the glyph to jump in the air, she could also use it like this to enhance her kicks. She did not know why she really needed it, but part of her wanted every advantage she could use against this Vulturn guy. Sure enough, her kick connected, smacking straight and true into Vulturn's shoulder as he threw the ball back to his hand. The air between the bodies was powerfully forced out in a miniature wave. "I've broken your bones!" Weiss thought to herself as the cracking of marrow reverberated throughout the room. A few seconds passed while Weiss proudly watched the face of Vulturn, hoping to see that straight-line of his be replaced with a mouth screaming in agony.

The smile that was then smack-dab on her proud face was then replaced by a confused grimace, before her eyes begin to tear up.

"GYAHH! MY LEG!"

'That was a pretty strong attack.' Vulturn thought to himself, his eyes watching Weiss as the girl hopped about on one leg, her hands clutching the others while she screamed in pain. 'I needed to tense up my muscles to successfully block it. Had I been an ordinary person, both of us would have broken bones.' Weiss had frankly exceeded his expectations. That little glyph boosting her kick was something he had not anticipated and before that, her reactions to him switching the location of the ball were also pretty quick. 'I even had to speed up a little to avoid that last grab of hers.'

'However….' Spinning the ball on his finger, Vulturn felt himself give a lamenting sigh. Despite the defiance of expectations, Weiss' performance was still not good enough to give suitable exercise. Already, Vulturn could sense the tension in his muscles fading away. His body was warming down from the Cannon Ball training and Weiss' attempts had not even pushed it enough to prevent that. Passing the spinning ball onto the top of his head, Vulturn knew that he would need more of a challenge.

And even though his eyes were almost as dull as the darkness of night that was beginning to set in, even they glinted at the sight of Ruby, sitting at the sidelines twirling her fingers.

"Would you like to take a break, Weiss? We have a lot of time until sunrise."

"Huh?" Weiss felt her pain fell away a little as she wondered whether that was meant to be an insult. However, what Vulturn said next assured that almost certainly.

"Perhaps Ruby could fight in your stead?"

Ruby, bright-eyed and raring to go, almost jumped up, no doubt in an excitement to participate, but Weiss immediately shook her head with a snort. "No way am I letting someone like her fight for me. I'm leagues better than her and I can fight for myself." Weiss clenched her fists as she let her hurting leg back down onto the ground in an attempt to maintain a tough exterior. But the moment her leg pressed against the floor, a fierce pain seared through it like a hot pike and Weiss felt her let go another yelp.

"Are you sure you can take me on like that?" No, Vulturn is right. Weiss needed to heal or at least wait until the pain goes away. No matter how much confidence she had in herself, she cannot fight with only one good leg.

"Please, Weiss, I'll do my best." Ruby begged.

"Fine." Weiss resignedly looked down as she felt a little disgraced at her conceding to Vulturn's offer of 'mercy'. 'You will get another chance.' She reassured herself as Weiss hobbled past the now cheering Ruby, her hand placing itself on Ruby's shoulders.

"Weiss?" Ruby's eyes turned towards Weiss and for the moment, Weiss was taken aback. It has happened before, but the beautiful silver had always gotten to her that close-up. Weiss could say that Ruby's eyes were both hard and soft. They reminded Weiss of the hardness of an almost steel-like resolve and the softness of the hug of an accepting friend.

Weiss felt her disgrace lighten just a little. 'Stupid Ruby, why do you always have to be so helpful?' Weiss wondered as her grip tightened on Ruby's shoulder. Perhaps part of her still doubted Ruby's resolve and wanted something to make her push herself. Or maybe it was to alleviate Weiss' inner guilt that she had been genuinely nothing but rude to Ruby and just wanted to find some way to reward her for her unerring acceptance.

"If you beat him, I'll make that idiot Vulturn show his weapon to you."

* * *

What did she say? "YES MASTER WEISS!" Vulturn felt himself blink a little more rapidly as he tried to comprehend what he had just heard. Show his weapon? Why does it seem like the prospect of seeing his weapon has made Ruby even more focused on getting him? No answers could be found in Vulturn's logic while he continued to watch Ruby, her eyes literally stars, now vigorously stretch her body, readying herself to confront him.

'No matter, so long as it gives me a challenge.' The questions would be for another time. Right now, as Ruby finished stretching and her eyes giving a death-stare towards the ball on top of his head, Vulturn sensed that he might get what he wanted after all.

"GET HIM, RUBY!" Weiss called from the side, her hands smoothing over her still hurting leg.

Boom! Ruby vanished.

Or so at least that was what it looked like to Weiss.

'Oh, she's got a good first step,' Vulturn kept his arms crossed as he easily eyed Ruby charging straight towards him. Despite the compliment, though, he felt a little regret. 'However, she would need to develop her speed a lot more before she could touch me. I could have easily killed both of them when I had the chance." Vulturn felt inclined to shake his head.

By the time he stared back at where Ruby was supposed to be, she was gone.

'What? Above!?' Caught off guard, Vulturn hurriedly turned his slightly widened eyes towards the ceiling and sure enough, Ruby was there, her hands held behind her as if she was holding something. Then her index finger pulled at nothing but air.

"Eh?! Crescent Rose?" Ruby blinked blankly. Vulturn blinked blankly. Weiss blinked blankly. Then the last two watched as Ruby flailed about in an attempt to fly. The resounding thud of the metal floor being smashed against only made her failure even more painful.

"IDIOT! WERE YOU EXPECTING TO HAVE YOUR WEAPON?!" Weiss palmed herself in the face at sight of Ruby faceplanted into the floor, while Vulturn's eyebrow raised a little in wonderment at what this 'Crescent Rose' was about. "Arghh…." Ruby moaned as she slowly picked herself up, trying to shake away any dizziness from the fall.

'She was close. Very close. I was careless.' Vulturn scolded himself, his eye now sternly trained on the recovering Ruby, 'She had deliberately used a slow first step to make me drop my guard, then quickly upped her speed to get at the ball. Had she just charged at it directly instead of going into the air, I would have lost."

"Oops." Ruby blushed in embarrassment. "I forgot that we cannot use weapons. I thought I would have a better chance with Crescent Rose's assistance."

"URGH! HOW COULD YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT? AND YOU CAUGHT HIM OFF GUARD TOO!" Weiss yelled, her nostrils flaring up clouds of steam. Vulturn questioned how that was even biologically possible.

'No matter, I'll be more careful,' those were Vulturn's last thoughts before he saw a flowing red cloak covering his entire vision. Suddenly realising that Ruby had closed the distance between them in the instance he had turned to listen to Weiss' cacophony, Vulturn's mind fell into a focused state as he bounced the ball off his head and straight up into the air, just as Ruby's hand shot out to skim right over his black swept-back hair.

'Despite being just a little girl, she's got quite a sense at exploiting my openings.' Vulturn admitted as he swiftly side-stepped Ruby, jumping up to catch the mid-air ball with his right hand. Another flash of red prompted him to reverse course and pull his chest back, sending his foot up to kick the ball even higher into the air, at least two stories high and away from the red cloak that Ruby had furiously flipped towards the ball in an attempt to snatch it before Vulturn could. 'She improvises very well.' Vulturn could almost smile at the sensation of his muscles finally stopping their warming down.

'As expected, she would be more of a challenge against someone of my skill-set.' Vulturn eyed the ball once more, the black sphere just reaching the peak of its climb up the air, now three stories away from the ground. 'However, she's still not fast enough to beat me.' Vulturn assured himself of that as his feet pressed into the ground and launched his body straight up for the ball.

He was not expecting to be face-to-face, shoulder-to-shoulder with Ruby, as the two of them reached for the ball with outstretched arms.

Their speed had been equivalent.

"I will admit that you have incredible velocity." Vulturn verbally admitted this fact towards Ruby's smiling face. Her grin only grew wider when she replied, "You too." Traces of light red Aura energy peeling off from Ruby hinted to Vulturn that he had just witnessed her Semblance.

"This is your maximum?"

"That's right."

".….I recommend that you should keep things like that a secret." Vulturn softly berated Ruby as he used his slightly longer arm to give a strong finger flick at the ball, sending it soaring ever to greater heights, halfway up the height of the entire room. 'I merely miscalculated the speed I needed,' Vulturn thought to himself as the rush of air around him suddenly stagnated, the two jumpers having reached the peak of their jump. 'I can still go faster than her at the next jump.'

Then Ruby placed her foot onto his shoulder.

"Sorry about this," Ruby apologized next to Vulturn's ear, while the shocked man could only watch himself about to be used as a jumping platform for this little girl.

'I need to stop her!' Vulturn felt his teeth grind together in face of his dilemma. The rules were clear: he could not swat her off nor could he use his weapons. A stray thought reminded him of another option but Vulturn immediately rejected it; it was just too dangerous.

'How about this then?' As Ruby's leg was gaining more and more of a foothold on his shoulder, Vulturn hurriedly extended his arms to his sides and used them to prompt his body to go into a mid-air spin.

"Uwah!" Ruby's eyes widened as Vulturn's shoulder was spun out from under her. Without her footing and out of balance, she could only shut her eyes as she crashed head-first into the ground, a fate that she hoped she did not have to meet again. "Ah…..little doggies chasing stars….how nice…."

"Do you usually land on your head?" Vulturn quipped at the sight, perfectly controlling his body to land feet-first and safely onto the ground. An outstretched hand in the right place found the Cannon Ball falling back into Vulturn's grasp.

'That was a pretty good bit of exertion.' Vulturn thought, his other hand over his heart, revealing to him that his heartbeat had been racing the entire time. However, Vulturn also knew that Ruby had few tricks left. She had shown him his maximum speed and her style of improvisation. Any further confrontation would be clearly to her disadvantage.

"DON'T GIVE UP RUBY! KICK HIS IDIOT ASS!" Ah yes, there was still another way.

Once again playing with the ball in his hand, Vulturn called towards the other girl watching from the sidelines. "Weiss, is your leg feeling better?"

"You mean raring for another try?" Weiss snorted dismissively, "Of course! Ruby, you want to switch ou-?"

"Wait. Ruby can stay. You can come in as well." Vulturn's voice over his last words was with a cold finality, enough to prompt the listening Weiss to sense a slight shiver down her spine, though she would never admit it.

"I'll take you both on."

* * *

"Ruby."

"Weiss."

The two girls nodded to one another from opposite sides of the court, as they cautiously circled around the waiting Vulturn. Ruby could feel herself already panting inside from her previous solo confrontation with the man and frankly, she had been starting to doubt that she might be able to keep it up after all of her failed attempts to get the ball. With Weiss by her side, or on the opposite side of the room in this case, they might be able to trap Vulturn and get the ball.

"Well?" Vulturn's voice was beginning to grow lower and as he bounced the ball on his palm, his foot was beginning to tap.

Ruby shouted back with puffed cheeks. "Hold up, I'm brainstorming!" She still had no idea how they were supposed to trap Vulturn though.

Vulturn was shaking his head, looking disappointed. "And you expect to shout your idea across the room? You should have brainstormed before you two split up to try to get at me from both sides." Ruby puffed up her reddening cheeks even more to hide her embarrassment. She had quite forgotten about that part.

"Let's make it up as we go, Ruby!" It came as a surprise to Ruby to hear Weiss give her an encouraging yell. "Just wait till we beat you, idiotic Vulturn." The support was most needed and Ruby accepted it graciously with a tender smile, followed by an excited grin.

"You seem to have grown quite the habit of calling me an idiot, Weiss. Another time, I might have to deal with that. But right now, it looks like you are finally ready," Vulturn said as he now halted his feet-tapping and grasped the ball firmly in readiness. Black eyes narrowed in rare anticipation. "Come at me."

"HA!" Ruby and Weiss gave a simultaneous battle-cry as they charged at Vulturn from both sides. "Get him from above, Weiss!" Ruby yelled as she dive-kicked at Vulturn's hip. "Right!" Weiss conceded the request with a flying straight kick for Vulturn's head.

"You need to be faster than that!" Vulturn retorted as he seemingly tripped, but much to the girl's surprise, he had simply allowed his body to fall backwards such that it, near-parallel to the ground, was right between both of the legs that had been aiming for it.

'I knew it: he's too agile to get him directly!' Weiss cringed at the failure of their kicks. 'However, we still have him.' Weiss' eyes dilated in focus as one of her blue force glyphs materialized on the tip of her foot. "RUBY!"

"AYE!" Pressing her hands against the ground to stop her forward momentum, Ruby gritted her teeth in her efforts to lift up her lower body, her muscles growing taut as she sent her leg straight up towards the mid-air Vulturn, while Weiss sent her leg straight down at him with the propulsion from her glyph.

"Aiming for my muscled areas won't work." Vulturn stated with a matter-of-fact as he did not bother to dodge out of the way. He watched as Weiss' heel slammed straight into the pectoral area of his chest, while Ruby's foot tip tried to drive itself into his shoulder blade, both girls clearly attempting to try a top-down variant of a scissors kick. The only result was that of yelps of pain.

"Argh!" Ruby and Weiss both groaned as they felt their respective foot area almost feel like cracking into pieces. 'It feels like kicking an iron wall.' Ruby thought as she bit her lower lip to bear with the pain. Her arm shot out straight for the ball in Vulturn's arm, with Weiss doing the exact same thing while their legs locked Vulturn in place.

"This is an admirable attempt." Vulturn admitted to them as he casually threw the ball away from the three of them. Both Ruby and Weiss have their eyes sparkling at the chance he was seemingly giving to them.

'I just need to run to it,' They both could feel that possible victory, just so close, but the moment they let go of Vulturn and allowed themselves to step on the ground with their injured foot, the subsequent lightning forks of pain ripping through their legs sent them stumbling and stopping for a brief second in a reflexive attempt to bear with the torment in their feet. That second was all for a particular freed man to disappear into a black blur and catch the ball before it reached the far side of the court. "Like I said, it is an admirable _attempt_." Vulturn 'praised' the two once more, the ball spinning on the tip of his finger once more.

'As I thought, he's too strong to take on without some proper strategy,' Ruby thought while her fingers gently pressed against the tip of her foot to massage the pain away. A frisson of excitement sprung up the hairs on the back of her neck. 'But I think I have an idea.'

* * *

'The moon is out…Broken, as expected.' Vulturn observed through the glass panes that made up the Cannon Ball section's walls and ceiling. 'Seeing the intensity of the night, it is probably 10:00 pm, give or take an hour. I did not expect the girls to be able to keep me satisfied for this long. However, it seems that I was careless in giving them till sunrise.' His dark-wood-coloured eyes now returned back to Ruby and Weiss. Weiss was already beginning to stand up, while Ruby, her face hidden away, was still kneeling down, no doubt massaging her feet that was obscured behind the rest of her body. It was to be expected; Weiss was, in Vulturn's eyes, much more determined than Ruby due to her motive being to earn back her lost pride, so she was more motivated to shrug off the pain.

"Ruby? Are you ready?" Weiss asked, showing what Vulturn perceived to be a concerned look on her pearl-like face.

"Yep, never better," Ruby showed a confident grin to Weiss, who returned it.

'Take warning, they are up to something,' Vulturn acknowledged the warning alarms in his mind. However, part of him wanted to just stay and see what they have in mind. They say curiosity killed the cat. It is a most unusual metaphor from Vulturn's point of view, to hear of how an abstract concept could have killed a real living being.

'And besides, I'm not a cat.'

Vulturn paused at that last thought as the familiar sound of rubber against metal signalled to him the coming of Ruby, heading straight towards him with a clear and confident smile. Vulturn could easily see though it. She was going to try to kick him in the chin with her left leg. "Your attacks need to be less telegraphed!" Vulturn gave a piece of advice as he stepped back just as Ruby's foot was kicked straight up to where his face was a second ago, sending a rush of air straight into his face.

For some reason, her combat boot was also coming loose from her foot.

Vulturn's chin got a big painful hint of what the reason was. His focus was sent into disarray as his head was forcefully whipped back, Vulturn's lower jaw numb from the shock of having collided with a rubber sole. However, Vulturn kept his firm but admittedly wavering grip on the ball. 'Just now…..she was loosening her shoe!' The stars in the night sky almost seem to multiply in his disorientated vision and a single white mess was all Vulturn could make out of Weiss appearing behind him. He could barely perceive a magical glint of something blue in colour before…

Bang! Even more stars flew into his sight as Vulturn felt a second boot smack straight into the back of his head. Two hits in the head in a row, it was too much to take for Vulturn as he felt his grip on the ball fully slip. The force of the kick sent him flying forward into mid-air and the only things he could see now was the ball rolling slowly at the very top edge of his point of view. "I GOT IT!" The sound of Weiss going for the free ball quickly caught Vulturn's attention and in desperation, he pushed his chest forward to send his body into a mid-air somersault. As he did, his leg caught the ball and gave it a push as hard as possible, hopefully kicking it out of Weiss' reach.

"I must get my mind back into focus.' Vulturn instructed himself as he struggled to pull his concentration back together, his feet weakly launching him towards the ball after the end of his somersault. 'I need to immediately retrieve the ball.' The pain reeling through his nerves was almost blinding him and he could almost feel something inside him attempt to take hold. He wanted to deal with it, to take a break and get back to his usual condition, but first, he must get the ball back.

At the feel of the ball's bumped surface against his fingertips, Vulturn felt a little spring of relief. Then, his eyes widened at the sight of a red boot hurtling from the side at the ball, smacking it right out of his grasp. The unexpected manoeuvre, and the rules, left Vulturn unable to stop the white and red girls that suddenly passed by him, their arms reaching out for the ball while the mouths were turned up in triumphant grins as they shouted in anticipation of victory.

He could not do anything.

No, he had something that could work, but the consequences…Then Vulturn thought of the alternative. Four years as a servant. Four years as a slave to someone else. Chained again, bound up tightly with little room to spare. He should not have betted his hard-fought freedom so callously. No, he had enough. No more of that and no more of this. It had ended at that day and it will not start again tonight.

It came over him as if his very heart pumped it throughout his vessels. The burning sensation of muscles being strained as his legs pushed off the ground, feeling the metal floor give way under the force of his charge.

No one noticed that he was there. Right behind them, looking over them, seething over them, the very biological impossibility he had witnessed in Weiss happening to him as well. Ruby and Weiss had been nothing more than a nuisance and looking at how slowly they moved, how much painstaking effort their bodies were putting to attain such a pathetic speed, it almost made him laugh at his softness throughout the past hours. His palms straightened themselves as if he was going to make a karate chop, but he had something else in mind, aiming the nails straight at the back of the girls' necks.

It would be swift. It would be efficient. A simple thrust with these knives of hands into the back of their necks. Through their spinal cords. Out of their throats. Their vocal cords would be crushed, unable to give even a whisper of an agonising scream. Their bodies would be paralyzed so that there was no hope of using their ligaments to create a sound or leave a message. Swift and efficient; the only sound would be the thuds of cold, dead flesh.

No one would know, not even these girls, their attention so fixated on the Cannon Ball that they would not have felt themselves die anyway.

No, he should do it the 'right' way. Painfully and torturously, for all the trouble they have given him. Claw their throats out so they won't shout. Break each and every one of their limbs slowly as they bleed to their demise. Or perhaps he could have fun…No.

That does not make logical sense.

Vulturn startled himself back, the heat that was pouring through his body now receding back just as quickly as it had filled him. The roars in his mind were now frightened back to whispers as they realised that their arch-enemy had struck back. There was no practical sense in killing the girls here, or doing that foul thing that he also had in mind. It would be too messy at this speed, too much evidence spread about for him to clean. He would get hunted down, caught and possibly executed, or worse.

There was another way, one so obvious to him that he felt like almost scolding himself for letting him get so caught up. His emotions will not control him; it is he who will control them. And not just control them. Banish them. Exile them. He did not need those ridiculous fleas that try to bleed him dry. The one true thing that can absolutely trust will be the unyielding, impartial judges of logic.

Yes, logic dictates the right way to go. It sees all from an objective and practical standpoint, one that will weigh all of the facts of reality, untainted by the exaggerations of emotions, and allow a person to find the way that will be most beneficial.

And right now, that way is: GET THE BALL FIRST!

Vulturn's body obeyed the order as it slipped right through the gap between Ruby and Weiss, both of whom had initially faces of triumph, now replaced by faces of horror at Vulturn's sudden speed. Vulturn's concentration came back naturally as he deftly scooped up the troublesome ball into his arms. When he turned back, he was already ready for Weiss and Ruby charging straight at him once again. He could almost laugh at their determined faces, laugh at the fact that they had been in utter peril only a few seconds ago and they were none the wiser. However, laughter, or at least humour, was too an emotion that needed to be suppressed. Not even positive emotions can be allowed to run rampant.

In fact, they can be the most destructive.

"YAHHH!"

Anyway, time to get some training done.

* * *

"Ha…ha….ha…My god….," Weiss could barely differentiate which layer was her skin and which layer was her combat uniform. They were so glued together by the buckets of hot sweat that precipitated from her near-exhausted body. "We…. tried nearly every…thing….." Weiss was on all fours, her shaking limbs just barely keeping her from completely collapsing onto the ground.

"Weiss…I don't think we can beat him…." Ruby murmured in between her panting breaths, her body in exactly the same physical condition. Her limbs were hurting severely at many places from the backlash of their attempts to attack Vulturn to try and draw his attention away. Her lungs felt like they were burning up from the inside thanks to her trying to beat him in terms of speed, only to fail miserably. Her brain was now literally a junkyard of ideas and improvisations that she and Weiss have used and yet have not gotten any closer to the ball, still spinning on the tip of Vulturn's finger.

The man himself had barely lost any breath. Perspiration was sliding across his skin and his muscles have exerted themselves enough for him to feel the heat within them, but Ruby and Weiss could see that he was not yet done and could probably even sustain himself at this condition until sunrise.

Didididi…dididi….

Vulturn's hand reflexively slid into his jean pockets. "That was not mine."

"It's me," Ruby said as she pulled out her Scroll, the little grey frame expanding out to the size of her hand, while digital symbols flashed across the revealed glass screen, with one bearing an image instantly familiar to Ruby. "It's Yang," Ruby briefly sat up, before falling back over again as a particular sister's voice bowled her over.

"OF COURSE IT'S ME, RUBY! WHERE ON REMNANT ARE YOU?! IT'S NEARLY ELEVEN!"

"Is your entire unit consisting of members deficient in comprehending volume?" Vulturn asked Weiss while the two of them were plugging their ears with their fingers. Poor Ruby, who had one hand holding the Scroll, did not have such a privilege.

"Please stop…." Ruby murmured with a stammering voice, her eyes beginning to dizzily droop as a sign that her brain had been taking too much shouting in too short a time.

"STOP?! YOU CAN'T BELIEVE HOW WORRIED I WAS WHEN MY DEAR LITTLE SISTER WENT MISSING FOR NEARLY FOUR HOURS?! WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU KIDNAPPED? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

"I'm just fine, Yang."

"I'm totally fine. Thanks for caring," Weiss whispered sarcastically, turning her complaint towards Vulturn. "How can they forget about me like that?"

"If it gives you a more comfortable sensation, I can tell you that you have given me an unforgettable impression." Vulturn replied.

Weiss raised her eyebrow suspiciously. "In a bad way or in a good way?"

"I believe that interpretation is a relative subject," said Vulturn, flat-faced as ever. Weiss could tell, however, that she had just been told a truth, but that truth had absolutely no relevance to her question. In other words, Vulturn had avoided the question.

"I see….THEN JUST GET BACK HERE! IT'S NEARLY BEDTIME!"

"Urgh, you sound like Mum now!" Ruby puffed up her cheeks in protest, even though Yang would not have been able to see it.

"If you go back now, you will not have any time left to beat me." Vulturn pointed out to Weiss.

Weiss nodded with, much to Vulturn's internal surprise, an accepting smile. "Four hours. That was how much time I had to think about this whole thing, all the while tiring myself trying to get at a ball that I had no chance of getting anyway."

Vulturn almost seem to giggle, though it came out as something gargling in the back of his throat. "You were very close a couple of times. If you continue trying, you would have a chance of beating me. Indeed, it is small, but no matter how infinitesimally minuscule, that chance still exists. If you give up now, you would never have that chance. It is only the assumption of 'no chance' that brings about the situation of no chance at all."

"That is actually kind of deep." Weiss admitted.

"Logical, not deep." Vulturn retorted. "I also still have certain _questions_ I wish to clarify with you."

"Whatever you say," Weiss gave a giggle of her own, "Sorry, I would have to refuse." Vulturn could almost feel the corner of his eye twitch. Whether it was out of disappointment or frustration eluded him. "Truth to be told, seeing what you can do after this game, I'm frankly glad that I did not duel you for real. If all that is just your defensive skills, I don't look forward to being on the receiving side of one of your attacks. And you weren't even using your Aura." Weiss resignedly sighed, watching on with Vulturn at Ruby frantically trying to explain to Yang what happened to the phone. "I was not thinking straight when I challenged you."

"Indeed, you were not."

"Hey!" Weiss frowned at Vulturn's blunt honesty, though the smile remaining on her face betrayed the joking nature of her response.

"Fine. Fine, Yang, I'll be back." Having finally had a historical exchange of awkward explanations and unfortunate misunderstandings, Ruby, her head sweating from the mental exertion, finally caved in to Yang's demands. Before she turned off her Scroll in relief, Yang's voice suddenly asked out another request.

"Hey, Ruby, if you see Weiss on the way, could you ask what a Nevermore's feathers are made out of and what uses can come out from it? You know, for Professor Port's assignment. Thanks." The dying sound of the Scroll being shut off was then swallowed by two simultaneous cries.

"OH THANKS A LOT, YANG! I APPRECIATE ALL THE KIND AND GENEROUS CONCERN!"

"WE HAD AN ASSIGNMENT!?"

"It seems most efficient to be procuring myself some earplugs when we meet again," Vulturn stated matter-of-factly, his fingers back in his ears. There was not, to him, really any need for the girls to remain in here any more. He was starting to get the serious urge to get back to proper training immediately.

"Now, _get out_."

Weiss immediately complied, not out of fear or out of worry, but out of sheer anger as she made a mad rush straight through the Section's door, most certainly preparing herself to pound Yang. Ruby, on the other hand, still seemed hesitant and the pretty-please look that she was giving to Vulturn at the moment hinted him why this was so.

"But can I see your weap-?"

"_Get out_."

"Meanie. Pleh." Vulturn's eyebrow raised itself to new heights at Ruby sticking her rose-red tongue out at him before running up of the stairs and out through the doors. The moment her red cloak was out of sight, Vulturn firmly grasped the Cannon Ball in his hand and begun to speak to it, the memories of those two girls now being compacted into the 'unimportant' section of his mind.

"Initiate Game. Resume at saved settings. Change inertia increment to ten times. Increase friction lubrication by seven…." Yet as he spoke, some piece of the memories snagged onto a mental hook and intriguingly did not want to be so easily regulated away. He had forgotten to consider something.

"I wonder if their physical states are still strong enough to deal with the one-ton gym entrance."


End file.
